"Naruto. You go that way. I'll take this street."

The pair sprang apart down separate roads. On leaf-littered rooftops, Obito and Kakashi kept watch; high above them, vast branches gently creaked where they swayed in the sky, thousands of white cocoons hanging in neat rows from their undersides.

Clinking glass, shuffling feet, soft sounds of effort from moving heavy objects with quick searching hands – hurried minutes later, Naruto and Sasuke reunited in the deserted intersection near where they had split, bags full of supplies slung over their backs. They exchanged dark glances before looking up to make sure Obito and Kakashi were still within their sights.

Kakashi leapt down first. "No signs of trouble yet, but that means little. We've been here long enough already."
Obito appeared beside Naruto, his dark eyes haunted as his gaze swept over the abandoned streets. A little shop stand's cloth eaves flapped in the wind, its wooden displays full of rotted fruit. Papers and leaves blew across the roads, trash accumulating in corners, every window dark and filled with cobwebs.

"I'm getting creeped out," Naruto said quietly, "let's go."

"Yugakure. This used to be a busy village. And now…" Sasuke glanced upwards, his shoulders tense; the rest of them followed his stare, and for a moment each watched the cocoons above them drift and sway.

Kakashi gave the roads of shops a cursory once-over before glancing at Naruto questioningly. "Did you clean out the rest of the pharmacy supplies? Sakura said there was enough left to just take and carry."

Naruto nodded uneasily. "Yeah. I wasn't really sure what I was looking at, but I grabbed what I could."

"Good. It'll help. She's getting better organised."
"What else is she going to do?" Sasuke rolled his eyes, leading the way down a shadowed street, his raven hair drifting in the breeze. "I'm surprised Sakura hasn't destroyed the rest of Obito's dimension yet. Half of it's become like a cement dust desert. If you and Obito keep making the call to leave her behind, the whole place might just be dunes the next time we return."

"Yeah, and it's been a long time now… all summer, and it's almost fall," Naruto added, meeting Obito's narrowing eyes before walking in step with Sasuke. "Why? She used to come with us on every supply run, and now you barely let her out for basic hygiene stuff."

"Now's not the time to argue," Kakashi interjected, and Naruto frowned while Sasuke snorted derisively. "It never is, Kakashi."

"You still haven't told us what's going on with her." Naruto kicked a stone out of his path, watching it clatter aside with hunched shoulders. He sensed the tension emanating from both Kakashi and Obito, keeping up with Sasuke's stride with his hands shoved in his pockets and expression troubled. "She won't tell us either. Not even me... all summer. She's just different, somehow."

"War gets to all of us." Obito pointed ahead. "There's one more small grocery store. We should check it out before going back just to stock up. The fewer times we have to come back here the better."

The four of them slowed to a stop in front of the little shop; Naruto glanced at Sasuke. "Does your bag have room? Mine's full of pills and stuff."

"Idiot, you were supposed to get more than pharmacy items… food and water is more important."

Naruto offered him a grin. "You know I had to get what she asked for, since she can't come with us. Anything to see Sakura be even a little less unhappy."
Sasuke glared at him with skin-deep ire, pushing past him into the dark of the abandoned store. "Give me two minutes."

Naruto stood awkwardly next to Obito, who stared into the tangle of empty streets with a terse expression. Kakashi was sharpening a kunai, though he was still watchful, dark eyes flicking occasionally over shadow-cast doorways and rooftops.

"Will you tell me now that Sasuke can't hear? Maybe it has to do with him." Naruto tried on a winning smile that the other two ignored entirely. He sighed and leaned back against the shop's open doorframe. "I just wish I understood why she told you and not us."

"It's not like that." Obito faced Naruto, who was taken aback by his unforgiving look. "Drop it. She'll tell you if and when she's ready; otherwise, move on."

"But she clearly didn't ask to be stuck alone there while we do the runs without her," Naruto pointed out, "She begs us to take her with before every trip. Why are you trapping her there? What did she do wrong? Does she have some lasting injury from that fight earlier this summer?"

"Enough." Obito waved Naruto away, folding his arms and returning to watching the windblown village with an air of finality. Naruto scowled before glancing into the open doorway of the store. "Sasuke. Hurry up already. The sun's setting, it's getting late."

"I'm well aware of the time," came an owlish response, and Naruto shrugged, waiting another moment until Sasuke emerged, the bag he carried full. "This was worth the extra time, anyway. Lots of non-perishables worth taking." He glanced between Kakashi and Obito. "Let's go."

A chill shivered through all four of them, a cold wind howling through the street, and each jerked their heads toward the same direction at once, blood running slowly through their veins. "Was it worth the time?" came a mocking deep voice that echoed down the dead street, and as Obito and Kakashi stepped back in preparation to run, Sasuke and Naruto moved protectively in front of them, hatred pinching their faces.

"Madara," they growled in unison.

At their backs with his kunai drawn, Kakashi hissed, "What are you two doing? We can't fight him yet. We need to go."

Madara stood tall in the middle of the street, white mane adrift in the breeze, shifting about his shoulders and pale face. He folded his arms, regarding them imperiously, his shadowed Rinnegan eyes flicking between each of them and narrowing. Sasuke set a hand on the handle of his sword while stepping back; Naruto's fierce light eyes were affixed intensely upon Madara, who tilted his head with a low hum. "And where, then, is our proverbial cherry blossom?"

Both Naruto and Sasuke's expressions abruptly reset, surprise pivoting between their faces. They paused where they had been making a slow retreat. "Why the hell would you want to know?" Naruto demanded, and Madara was unruffled, his black-gloved fingers tapping along his arm. "You're trying to keep her prisoner. That'll go well." He chuckled, and Naruto's sweaty hands clenched into fists. "Don't talk about her like you know her."
"But I do know her." Madara's smile was ever so slight, his dark eyes both dangerous and knowing.

Confusion perplexed Naruto's features while Sasuke scoffed. "That's just another lie. I don't see the point of you bringing her up at all."

"Sasuke's right. How and when would you ever?" Naruto readied his fists. "Enough of this. We're not here to talk, especially if you're just going to insult my teammate."

"You know when." Madara shifted toward them threateningly, and all four of them instinctively stepped back, Sasuke's hand clenching around the hilt of his sword. The bleeding red sunlight caught in Madara's deadly Rinnegan glare. "Or have you perhaps forgotten? Yes…" He had seen the flicker across Sasuke's face, followed by Naruto's. "That night, many weeks ago now, when you abandoned her. Left her to me, to die. That was when Sakura and I got… better acquainted."

Naruto's struggle to understand continued to leave him in a halted, hesitant state. He ran a hand through his hair, scowling, while Sasuke was increasingly pale, searching Madara for the truth as the colour drained from his face. Behind the two of them, Kakashi and Obito looked on with matching grimaces. "Don't listen to him," Obito warned.

Naruto gripped his fists and levelled his glare with Madara's challengingly. "What are you even saying?"

"Hmm, how shall I put it?" Madara's grin was nothing short of wicked, delighting in the horror across their faces. "The sleeping cherry blossom bud… burst into bloom."

Sasuke's expression went blank before darkening with murderous intent as he understood Madara's meaning. While Naruto's features continued to twitch with upset bewilderment, Sasuke's lips pulled back over a snarl, his visible dark eye swirling red as his Sharingan spun to life beside his glaring Rinnegan.

Madara noticed this, his metallic eyes sharp upon him. "She didn't tell you? How interesting. It seems she wanted to keep it a private affair." His lips quirked upwards, dark pupils dancing as he observed the horrified expressions across their faces – all but Naruto's, who continued to blink at Madara in frustrated confusion.

"You sick bastard." Sasuke brandished his sword, slicing the air in front of him. "It's not true. It can't be true."

"What's he talking about, Sasuke?" Naruto's tone was dipped with anxiety, and Sasuke readied his blade, never taking his eyes from Madara. "He took advantage of her, Naruto."
"What?" Naruto looked between them with panic, and Madara raised his brows. "Go on, go ask her then. I'll even let you leave." Unapologetic amusement danced in his eyes as he gestured at them with a dismissive gloved hand, and Naruto and Sasuke stared at him dumbly before he let out a low hiss. "Go on, before I change my mind and kill all of you."

The four were gone in a flash, leaving Madara standing alone in the street, his Rinnegan eyes missing nothing as they melted back into the telltale swirls of Obito's Kamui.

Sakura stared out into the void, feet dangling off the edge.

The darkness was comforting now. She closed her eyes, running her palms over her face. She had lost all sense of day or night sometime in the last few months; she'd stopped tracking time along with the cycles of the sun she was no longer allowed to see.

Darkness kept her smothered and safe without the exposure of light, and she found herself wishing she could disappear into it more and more. Melt into the shadows, like a ghost. Somewhere in the monotonous days endlessly without light, she had stopped feeling anything but the yearning to not feel at all.

Was she depressed? Somewhere in Sakura's medical inventory of knowledge she understood she might be, and that she should do something about it.

Sakura glanced to the side, her stare vacant upon the endless shapes of cubic concrete and dust-dunes that stretched into infinity. She had once been convinced, before all of this, that she could endure a prison sentence should a mission go wrong and she'd come out just fine. Now she knew better. Now, all she wanted was to feel fresh air, to feel the breeze and smell the forest, to have her freedom.

What would it be like to fall through the void? Would she fall forever, or would she land back here, in an infinite loop? She looked down, the thought more intriguing than frightening, though she retained enough strength to resist the urge. It felt like she really had died that night when she'd fought Madara, and since then she had been floating in a cement purgatory, unable to progress. Long sleeps brought dreams of lost sensations; long hours awake brought ceaseless frustration and hopelessness.

Sakura closed her eyes once more. She had no more tears to cry. She had run out after the sixth or seventh time she had been denied the basic freedom of even seeing the outside world.

Obito appeared at her back, and Sakura didn't react; she opened her eyes half-lidded to stare into nothingness, unfeeling and dull.

He set a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura."

She said nothing; he shook her lightly. "Answer me, Sakura."

"I need to visit the spring again," she answered flatly. It meant he needed to take her out to the real world again, the rare occasions he allowed it, for her to bathe. Said spring was somewhere underground, barely a difference from the dark of this dimension, and she was never really alone, taken back to this hell as soon as she was done with her business.

Obito paused with surprise at her blunt demand before shaking his head. "It has to wait. I wanted to warn you that Naruto and Sasuke know."

"Know what?"

"Well…" Sakura heard his grimace without seeing it, and she tilted her head back to look at him, the numbness in her limbs spreading when she saw his wistful expression. "I'm sorry."

"Wait…" Sakura leapt to her feet, swerving to face him. "What do they know? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you saying you told the boys what happened?" Hurt and anger cinched her features, red blooming in her cheeks as she clenched her fists, hoping that this was a joke in poor taste.

"It wasn't my choice, and no, I didn't break my promise to you." Obito made a face. "Honestly, Sakura. You shouldn't have so little faith in me."

"You keep me prisoner," she whispered, rage quaking beneath her skin, "you don't even let me see the light of day for this long and you worry about how little faith I have in you?"

"I thought that destroying over half of my dimension satisfied your anger about this." He scowled at her. "You have to understand why I have to keep you here. It isn't safe for you out there."

"You think I'll run to Madara, is that it?" Sakura's fingers curled into the fabric of her plain black qipao, ripping the seams. "You think I'll swap sides after what happened. Ever since I told you I had even just the fear of falling —" She cut herself off, unwilling to put it to words and glowering at him as she finished, "You truly don't trust me."

Obito's mouth opened and shut before he sighed, his arms falling to his sides. He searched Sakura's hurt expression, and when he reached out to touch her shoulder, she batted him away, stepping out of his reach. "You've left me in hell for too long," she hissed.

"This is hardly a hell!" Obito shouted at Sakura. She flinched as he gestured at the half-destroyed cement landscape around them. "I endured decades of true hell. You have no idea what the word even means. Here, you've been looked after, protected, surrounded by those who care about you, and still you complain, moaning about how you're such a prisoner."

Sakura drew up with anger, but found she had nothing to say.

Obito narrowed his eyes upon her; in their tense silence, his attention caught on something in the distance that brought back his wistful grimace. He sighed, folding his arms and looking back to Sakura. "You are still not well. I'll let go of your disrespect for now as I know you've been frustrated. But just to be clear, regardless of it all," he growled, all the harshness returning to his lined features, "it's Madara I don't trust. Not you."

Sakura gave a bitter laugh. "Madara has no interest in me anymore. I'm sure he's forgotten I even exist, like you've so often reminded me that he has. Hell, sometimes I think that you four forget I exist too, with how much time I spend here alone."

Obito took a deep breath, closing his eyes before releasing it in a long sigh. "Well. It turns out that I was wrong about that."

Sakura paused, green eyes searching his face intently. "What?"

He glanced away, his troubled gaze pinned on something in the distance. "We directly encountered him on today's run. The first time since months ago, when you and he…." He trailed off with a wince.

Sakura was nearly hopping from foot to foot in frustration. "So? What happened?"
"He asked about you."

Sakura kept her expression carefully neutral as she scrutinised Obito. "And?"

Obito regarded Sakura with pity, and she nearly imploded until she sensed the three figures running towards her. She glanced back at them, horror painting her expression in monotone as the colour left her features. "He told them," she said, heart hammering with fear, "did he really tell them…? Oh no. That bastard —" She clenched her teeth as Obito nodded. "You can imagine that they are upset."

"You think?!"

"He didn't say much, but enough that they know now." Obito cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I put them back over there so I could give you a bit of warning."

When she looked back to the approach of the rest of Team Seven, leaping from block to block and closing the distance in double-time, Sakura swallowed, feeling as if the world was sinking around her. She had a moment to clear her throat as they approached, one hand blindly shifting backwards and catching on Obito's arm as she inclined her head slightly, her eyes darkening as her gaze dragged down to the destroyed dunes of dust below. "Obito… thank you for warning me."

Naruto and Sasuke landed before her with twin thuds, Kakashi silent beside them; he glanced between Sakura and Obito with troubled pity.

Throwing down their bags of supplies, Naruto and Sasuke stared holes through Sakura. "Explain everything, Sakura." Sasuke's face was contorted with barely-controlled anger.

Sakura stood up tall, heart pounding in her chest. "Obito said Madara told you something; but how do you know he wasn't lying to you?" She kept her calm, and Sasuke glared at her. "Madara sent us here to ask you about it. If it was a lie, it was a very specific one."
Sakura maintained her iron facade, but felt it wavering under their intensity. "What did he say?" Her voice was quiet, Sasuke and Naruto looking at her simultaneously. "Something about a sleeping bud?" Naruto supplied, his expression apologetically unsure.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at him before redirecting his intense scrutiny upon Sakura. "Madara claims to have deflowered you. In fact, he outright boasted about it."

Naruto's face went blank, and Sakura turned bright red from head to toe, steadied from stumbling by Obito's hands around her shoulders. Her wide eyes shifted from Sasuke, to Naruto, to Kakashi, who wore a grim expression, then back to Sasuke.

Her lips trembled as she bowed her head. "Yes, it's… it's true."

Naruto nearly fell over in shock against Sasuke, who watched Sakura with slowly narrowing eyes. His face was bloodless, lined at the edges with disgust. "You laid with him willingly? Are you admitting that you've betrayed us all?"

"Yes and no," she whispered, green eyes wide, "I didn't — I would never, on purpose... I never meant to…"

Sasuke clenched the hilt of his blade with a low hiss. "Traitor."

Tears glittered in Sakura's eyes. "It's all so complicated. I didn't tell you because I just don't know — I didn't know how to explain. It wasn't planned… I didn't mean for it to happen. I was, we were both under the influence of a poison. And it doesn't matter, I'm still here, I'm on your side —"

"You slept with our enemy!" Sasuke roared, barely restrained by a desperately upset Naruto. "How can you say you're still on our side? Everything you say is a lie. I will never trust you again. We can never trust you again."

"Sasuke, calm down—" Naruto and Kakashi were struggling to keep Sasuke grappled, and Sasuke shoved them both aside, eyes flashing. "What was your plan, Sakura? Gather information about us and report it all to him? How could you do that when the fate of the entire world is at stake?" He backhanded Naruto's grip again, his eyes blazing. "And you knew, Obito. You and Kakashi both knew she was a traitor this whole time, and said nothing to Naruto or I about it?"

"Back off, Sasuke." Obito growled beside Sakura's ear, his arm secured around her shoulders; she was shaking in his steady hold. His red glare glinted dangerously. "You know nothing but the piece of truth that Madara used to create chaos and strife between our teammates. You're playing into what he wants." He cut Sasuke off before he could reply, his rasping voice booming out through the vacuous dusty air. "Don't even think of drawing your sword or I'll strike you down. I've seen how you treated both her and Naruto in the past." Sasuke glared at him, brandishing his sword with a steely flash, though he made no move to approach Sakura; she covered her face, tears streaming through her fingers as Obito's growl surrounded her. "There's more peaceful ways to resolve this than throwing insults and accusations."

Sasuke's lips curled over his clenched teeth. "Like what? Throwing her to the Infinite Tsukuyomi? Go ahead then. Let her go dream of Madara, and we'll continue working to end this war without her. She's useless now anyway."

"He doesn't mean that, Sakura, he's just really upset," Naruto tried to interject, Kakashi adding, "Obito and Naruto are both right. It's going to be fine after we tell them everything; we'll resolve this with absolutely no violence or hatred." He slid dangerous eyes over to Sasuke, who sheathed his sword with a scoff; Sakura turned her face from them, pink locks falling lank over her haggard face. "Obito…"

"Yes. I know." In a swirl she and Obito were gone.

Obito tilted his head back against the rock wall, listening to Sakura cry just behind it.

She was shoulders-deep in the small cave's hot spring, tears streaming down her face, water dripping off her hair. The sobs made her chest heave, breaths barely dragging through her. She had few thoughts but for the pain that overwhelmed every layer of her being.

"Breathe, Sakura," Obito reminded her from behind the wall. She hiccuped in response before sinking deeper into the water.

With a hollow expression, Sakura lifted her head. She brought her hands together under the water, and in a flash a perfect copy of herself appeared beside her.

As she got to her feet, her clone sank into the water, continuing to grieve. While the original Sakura quickly got dressed, throwing her pack over her shoulder, her clone let out a soft, shuddering sigh. "Hey," she said shakily, "Obito."

From behind the wall came a "Yes?"

"Whatever you think of me now, I just want you to know that I'm grateful to you." Sakura's clone swallowed, watching as the original Sakura ran silently through one of the cave openings and disappeared; she bowed her head with guilt. "You've been really kind to me. Understanding. And you didn't judge me, even once. You just accepted me as I am." Pain squeezed her heart. "I forgive you for keeping me in your dimension. I know that you were just trying to protect me. From Madara… from myself." Sakura's clone sank deeper in the water, her voice almost inaudible. "I laughed at you once for caring about me. But the truth is, I really care about you, too. I'm so glad you survived; you've become my mentor, my teammate, my confidante… my friend. I couldn't have gotten through all of this without you… Obito."

Silence, and Sakura looked backwards, waiting with tersely drawn brows until Obito spoke up from the darkness. "I…" He cleared his throat. "It's all right, Sakura." He exhaled softly. "Sasuke's going to calm down, we'll talk through the truth with the whole team, and you'll be able to rejoin us. It's going to be just fine."

"I don't think so," she answered, her eyes dipping into the steaming waters, welling up.

"Are you all finished?"

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered, and as Obito stepped out from behind the wall, she disappeared in a cloud of steam.

Sakura varied her paths as she wandered for hours through the cave, making sure to cover her tracks and disguise her scent with the dust, dirt and musty cave moss on her clothing. Though she wasn't sure how long Obito would pursue her, she wasn't going to take any chances.

She lifted her head as she stalked through the darkness, her gaze hardening. She could not go back to his dimension. She would not, no matter what happened now.

Sasuke's cold eyes seared through her mind, and her fingers dug into the stone wall, dragging through it and leaving raking marks. How had she ever thought she was in love with him? How did she ever think he was worth saving herself for? And now he called her a filthy traitor. Even knowing the whole of the truth, he would probably still call her a betrayer. Bitterness poisoned Sakura's tongue. What a mess everything has become.

She took in a lungful of stale air and released it, calming herself. Breathe, Sakura. Guilt stabbed her heart as Obito's voice echoed through her mind, the clone's memories fresh with the final image of his angry, hurt expression.

Sakura pressed her hand over her heart, willing the pain and guilt to quell. Obito was too kind to her, too trusting. She imagined that he would never forgive her for running away. But what did it matter? Her team didn't want her anymore; her place could no longer be with them. Her heart clenched painfully, beats slipping out jaggedly through her ribcage.

Sakura paused as she saw a distant light, and she flattened herself against the slightly curved wall, eyes narrowing. An exit? It felt too soon to risk emerging from the subterranean landscape.

She drew closer, seeing under more careful scrutiny that it was indeed sunlight. There was a small cavern with a hole in its curved ceiling, allowing a shaft of golden light to warm the floor in a dappled semicircle. She exhaled in relief, grateful it wasn't the light of an attack or of glowing Uchiha eyes.

Emerging from the darkness, Sakura cast a quick genjutsu trap on the tunnel she had come from, making it appear as though it reached a dead end rather than the sunlit cavern. She doubted it would work should Obito make his way here but she felt it was necessary to try anyway.

This done, Sakura shed her pack, walking up to the center and looking up at the small maw of falling light in the cavern roof. She closed her eyes as the sun kissed her face for the first time in months.

Relief, pure and clean, traced warmth down Sakura's face. It dripped down her sunlit figure; her shivering eased, and with relief's long-awaited touch, resilience and emancipated resolve pooled in her heart.