Gah! I hate cliffhangers! So I'll put you out of your misery with the 5th chapter of Restoration! :)

.:Restoration:.

Chapter 5: Detour

I will not falter, Sakura thought, her legs propelling her towards the missing-nin. Along the way she snatched fallen kunai from the ground and flung them towards Sasuke at lightning speed.

She made sure to keep her eyes on his, lest he activate his Sharingan and use it against her. His eyes seemed… duller. As if they were losing their light. Could Sasuke be going blind?

His sword clashed with her kunai and she was gaining on him, pushing him back the same way he had done to her earlier.

But there was also something different about him. She could see it in his eyes and the mocking tilt of his lips. He was actually smiling as they fought, albeit nastily. She squinted, trying to make sense of this. In his irises she could see… happiness? Joy? ...Life?

Hastily she pushed these thoughts out of her mind. She had her chance at this very moment, and she didn't need to screw it up with her contemplating, just like last time. No mistakes.

Her kunai slashed his cheek and drew blood. Sasuke's eyes flashed and she ducked away from his Kusanagi. She didn't realize she'd been hit until a stream of blood erupted from a gash in her leg. With a cry, she aimed a punch at him, which he blocked with her arm. Over and over she pounded him, and he defended, that sick smile still plastered onto his face. It was as if he was enjoying their fight in a different way than most shinobi enjoyed battles. Like he'd been craving such a thing. It was appalling to Sakura, but she scolded herself and kept her cool.

"Sakura," he breathed her name, grabbing the ankle of the leg she was about to kick him with.

Ignore him. Ignore him. Ignore him. Became her mantra. She didn't want to admit how affected she was by him just saying her name. Sakura was ready to falter, but she had to become devoid of emotion or else he would get away… again.

"Sakura," he said more forcibly, his crude smile turning down into a frown. That's better. He looks more like the vicious, evil Sasuke he is. It became easier for her to attack, now.

"Sakura!" Sasuke hissed, his eyes turning blood red. Sakura jumped away, on high alert. This was exactly what she had to look out for. With his Sharingan he was significantly stronger than her and had the advantage.

He didn't move, though, and it was making Sakura extremely nervous. His eye blended into a different shape… and she recognized this as the Mangekyo Sharingan. She needed to run, now. But she didn't.

"Sakura," said once again, calmer this time. He walked towards her casually, too casually. It put the pinkette on edge. He sheathed his sword as he approached her.

"What do you want," Sakura spat. He's not the same, don't you dare feel sympathetic. This isn't Sasuke. The Sasuke you used to know is gone.

"Stop fighting me," he stood before her and she had to look up to see his face. He's getting taller—shutupshutupSHUTUP don't think about that.

"Why," she sounded a little breathless. You weakling, he's the enemy stop wanting him to come closer stopstopstopstop!

"Because I won't fight you," he said, keeping his distance, which Sakura wanted to thank him for. If he came any closer… She might just give in…

Wait, what did he just say? "You won't fight me? Is it because you think I'm weak? Because I'm not Naruto, or Kaka-sensei? That I can't take you? Well let me tell you, I've been training my ass off! I've—" his glare made her jaw snap shut, but his words made her speechless.

"You're still annoying, I see."

The only sound was of the wind swishing through the trees. Sakura's hair blew into her face but she was too stunned to move. Those words… he'd said them to her twice before. When they'd first met… then when he left. And now. She wanted to cry, to laugh, to punch him for saying that. The silence dragged on.

"I've exacted my revenge. I killed Itachi, I killed Danzo. I'm done, Sakura. It's over. I can go back now." Can go back now… to Konoha? Home?

"You're just messing with me," Sakura's eyes narrowed and her hands clenched.

"I mean it," he didn't sound sincere, nor did he sound sarcastic. "Itachi's wish was for me to live in peace with the village, and I'll grant that."

"No. No. Just no." This couldn't be happening. Was he messing with her brain? This wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to happen. The next time she was to meet him, Sakura was sure he'd be a ruthless murderer and she'd be able to kill him without hesitation because he'd be evil. But this… she didn't know how she'd handle this. This wasn't supposed to happen; she was ready to kill him, not for him to tell her he was going back to the village, if he even was going to do that.

"You don't believe me," he stated.

"No, I don't. How…" she trailed off, not knowing what so say. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because you're the only one who would listen," he said. Silence dragged on and Sakura understood. She was the weakest emotional link out of all of them. The one with the least resolve. Naruto was dead set on bringing him back. Kakashi was dead set on killing him. Only Sakura was torn between the two. Neither of her teammate would give him time to speak, to put his word in and actually be listened to. Only Sakura would open her ears to Sasuke. And she cursed herself for it.

Slowly, she picked up a discarded kunai. "That… doesn't change anything." She would be strong. Sakura knew what she had to do.

Sakura was gone. That cloaked attacker had pushed her into the woods, away from the rest of them. Kakashi was worried.

The water-man swung the Kubikiribōchō at the Copy Ninja's neck, and he ducked, charging a Raikiri. Blue light gathered around his hand and he jabbed the lightning at the sword wielder. To dodge, the man liquefied, laughing. He reappeared behind Kakashi, taking another swing. Kakashi jumped back and ended up back-to-back with Naruto, who was taking on the orange-haired man.

Over his shoulder, Naruto shouted, "Kaka-sensei! Where's Sakura? I can't sense her chakra! Why is she masking it from us?"

"She's not," Kakashi answered. Sakura wouldn't do something as foolish as hide her chakra from them if she was separated. If anything, they should be able to feel her chakra pulsing, telling them where she was so that they could come back her up. The only other way that her chakra would be hidden was if she was caught in a strong genjutsu and not trying to escape. And if she wasn't trying to escape… It was a pretty damn strong genjutsu. She wouldn't be able to sense that she was caught in one.

Suddenly all three adversaries dropped to the ground. The three Konoha shinobi stood still, staying cautious. What kind of trick was this?

"What's going on?" Sai asked, inching his way towards his comrades. Kakashi bent over the now-motionless woman Sai had been battling, and looked into her eyes with his Sharingan.

"They were under a genjutsu," he examined.

"What? One that was strong enough to make them fight like that?" Naruto exclaimed. Yes, these three were put under an awfully powerful genjutsu, but it seemed that it had worn out.

"It must have been the cloaked one," Sai said. "The one who lured Sakura away."

Kakashi stood back up. "I agree, Sai."

"Kaka-sensei, where is she? Her chakra is missing!" Naruto said desperately, his brow creased in frustration and anger.

"She's under a genjutsu right now. We'll have to search in her general direction until the genjutsu is released. It's the only option."

"Hai, Kaka-sensei. Let's go," Naruto darted into the forest where they'd last seen Sakura, Kakashi and Sai on his tail.

Sakura stood offensively, her kunai at the ready. Sasuke was disturbingly at ease, standing there with a face devoid of any emotion.

She took a step closer to him. Suddenly his figure divided into two, creating two Sasukes standing next to each other. Then those multiplied, and their twins multiplied, until Sakura was standing in the middle of a circle of Sasukes, all with Sharingan eyes.

"Wha—what is this?" Sakura breathed. Then she realized, her eyes going wide. Genjutsu.

She closed her eyes and centered her chakra into herself, momentarily stopping its flow. With that done, the dreamscape froze. Now to break it. She brought her hand to her chest in a seal, and shouted, "Kai!" Her chakra shot away from her body, expelling any kind of influence the genjutsu had on her. The world shattered.

"Very good, Sakura." Sasuke's voice echoed in the corners of her mind.

"Her chakra's back!" Naruto said urgently.

Kakashi closed his eyes and scanned the area with his own chakra. "There!" He led the boys in the direction of Sakura's fluctuating signature.

A person who could cast four genjutsu at once; ones strong enough to mask chakra… Kakashi hoped it wasn't who he thought it was.

Sakura opened her eyes to find herself slumped against a tree. She felt groggy and her chakra reserves were weak.

"You broke Tsukuyomi," Sasuke said, a sliver of surprise in his voice. She looked up to see him standing in the exact same spot, with the exact same stance and exact same look on his face.

"Tsukuyomi? Then why… Why am I not suffering severe mental trauma?" she tentatively scanned her head, and found no pain, no pressure.

"I only brought you away for a few minutes. I needed to tell you something, and since you would not listen at first, I had to result in my strongest genjutsu. No part of that genjutsu was meant to harm you, and so you are not suffering from anything. It was my will."

Sakura stood up slowly, using the tree for support. Why did it feel like she'd been in this position before?

"SAKURA!" her name was called from the trees above and she looked up in time to see Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi land in front of her, weapons drawn. "There you are, Sakura-chan. We were getting worried," there was no playfulness in his voice as he spoke over his shoulder, never bringing his eyes away from Sasuke.

"Naruto. I never thought you'd show," Sasuke said, smirking humorlessly. "And you too, Kakashi. Though I'm not surprised you were able to beat Jugo, Suigetsu, and Karin. They don't usually put up much of a fight."

"Your genjutsu wore off," Kakashi said, fixing his grip on a kunai.

Sasuke moved his hand in a dismissive way. "Yes, well, it's hard to keep it up when I had to use Tsukuyomi."

Kakashi's visible eye widened and he glanced back at Sakura worry written all over his face. He'd been caught in Itachi's Tsukuyomi once, and the effects were horrible.

"I'm fine, Kaka-sensei," she said. It was true, and her wellbeing made Kakashi confused.

"You spared her," Kakashi said more than asked.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" Naruto interjected. Sasuke's Sharingan moved to Naruto's face.

"I'll tell you what I told her. I'm coming back to Konoha." Shock passed through the three Leaf shinobi's hearts. He'd said it twice already, but still Sakura had a hard time believing it. But Naruto, ever trustful, dropped his weapon and stood up straight, making himself quite vulnerable.

"Sasuke… Are you… Really?" Wide blue eyes stared.

"You tell me, dobe." Sasuke held his hands out, signaling that he wasn't going to fight. Stunned, Kakashi made a few hand seals and Sasuke's hands returned to his sides harshly, as if there was an invisible force shoving them there. Then he summoned Pakkun, and the little dog appeared in the cloud of smoke.

"Pakkun, deliver word to Tsunade-sama. We're bringing Uchiha Sasuke back with us."

"Hai," the little pug said, glancing over at Sasuke, whose hands were still oddly attached to his body. "He's grown," the dog said, then ran off to deliver the message to the Hokage.

To his team, Kakashi spoke softly. "I've put an incapacitating jutsu on him. He won't be able to move more than it takes to walk."

Sasuke was theirs to bring home.

A quick thank-you to XxSilversilkenwingsxX, a loyal reviewer :) You make me want to dance.

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