Her Experience

by Tiny.Dncer

Sakura has been taking care of her sick civilian mother alone since she was 8. But now a full fledged ninja placed on team 7, she must learn how to stop holding herself back and let her team in, although, that proves challenging when her teammates are the wild and childish Naruto Uzumaki and her cold closed off long time crush, Sasuke Uchiha. (Better explanation inside.)

14. Aftermath

"Sakura's thoughts..."

"Inner Sakura..."

Memory...

"Dialogue..."

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

---

The first two days after the funeral, Sakura didn't move from Sasuke's couch. She just sat, curled in a ball staring at her family picture. She didn't want to do anything. For so long, she had worked nonstop, was constantly going and going, to make money, to take care of her mom, to train…she had to always be doing something. But now, her motivation, her need to be in constant motion seemed to have died with her mother. Shikamaru used to tease her during their shogi matches about how she was so bad at doing nothing, when it's all the majority of people wanted to do, but it seemed she'd finally acquired the talent for it. She had no desire to train, dance, stretch, move, or read. No desire to eat, taking only one or two bites of whatever Sasuke put out for her. The only thing she got up for was her personal hygiene, because despite how out of it she was, she was still acutely aware that she was staying on the couch of the boy she loved. No matter how pathetic she looked, she wouldn't let him see her stoop low enough to neglect her personal hygiene, and she doubted he'd appreciate a smelly, greasy haired girl stinking up his couch. But even then, she was just going through the motions. She put no effort in passed the bare minimum to clean herself.

She felt oddly detached from herself, numb. There were emotions she knew were there: misery, grief, pain, anger, frustration, guilt, self-hatred, relief…but it was like they were still building up, a growing tsunami that had yet to crash down on her. And until it did, she couldn't feel them, just watch them build up through a glass wall, able to see them, knowing they were there and that they would inevitably hit her hard, but temporarily safe from their reach, protected by nothingness.

Sasuke was growing increasingly more concerned, not by the fact that Sakura didn't want to do anything—he remembered that feeling. When getting out of bed in the morning required a full motivational pep talk and reminder that he needed to get stronger to kill Itachi. It was harder for Sakura because there wasn't a person responsible for this—arguably Orochimaru, but the direct cause of her mother's death was a giant snake's tail damaging the apartment as it slithered by. It wasn't even like it had directly attacked the apartment or her mother. It was…a passing, unfortunate accident. And it was a giant snake doing what snakes did. There wasn't someone to blame or hold responsible like there had been with the Uchiha massacre, so revenge couldn't act as a motivating force to push her forward the way it was for Sasuke. It also wasn't her lack of appetite, because while it was concerning, he remembered that as well and knew eventually her stomach would catch up with her and force her to eat. Though, it didn't stop him from subtly trying to trick her into eating more, cooking to make the apartment smell like food, giving her larger portions, and leaving it in front of her for longer periods of time after she'd set her chopsticks down. And these tricks did seem to work, as she'd begun taking a few additional bites after her first two, or the two bites she'd take would be bigger.

What Sasuke really found concerning was that Sakura still hadn't cried yet. When she'd returned to his apartment after the funeral, her face was dry, with no swelling or redness visible in her eyes. She was repressing her need to cry, just as she used to repress her anger and frustration at her team and her situation. And Sasuke found that very troubling. Contrary to popular belief, Sasuke never repressed his emotions. When he felt something, he expressed it…it just so happened that ninety percent of what he felt was hatred, anger, annoyance, and frustration. When he felt accomplished, vindicated, amused, or as close to happy as he could get, it showed on his face in a smirk, or incredibly rare smile. He frequently didn't understand his emotions, but he never tried to stop himself from feeling them. Before he even realized how much he valued Naruto and Sakura, he'd jumped in the way to save them, or refused to abandon them no matter how low the likelihood of survival was. When it finally clicked with him just how precious they were to him, he'd stated as much out loud, once again prepared to lay down his life for them. They may not have always presented externally, but internally he felt all of his emotions very strongly.

Sakura, on the other hand, pushed everything down—her thoughts, opinions, and emotions. When she or someone else finally gave her permission to express herself and feel her feelings, they'd come pouring out of her in a huge tidal wave because of how much had built up. He'd caught onto it the very first time he'd provoked her into voicing everything, but it became clearer when she'd told him and Naruto about her situation with her mother. Sakura frequently invalidated her own emotions and responses, thinking she didn't have the right to think or feel a certain way when someone else had it worse. There was an extent to which Sasuke agreed with that sentiment, though never applied to Sakura. In his mind, some of his classmates didn't have the right to complain about their lives when they hadn't experienced real pain or stress—people like Choji, Shikamaru, Ino, and Ami. Although, those who made up team 10 were far better people than Ami, as far as he was concerned. His opinion of Ino had actually drastically bettered from what it was, seeing how she'd prioritized and taken care of Sakura on the day of the funeral. Those kids, who still had a certain level of innocence as kids, they didn't have the right to complain. But that wasn't Sakura's case. Whatever she thought, whatever she felt, it was justified because she'd been through it. She had every right to her feelings—she'd earned them. And he knew that she hadn't cried yet because for some reason, she didn't feel like she had the right. Her emotions were gonna keep building and building, and if she didn't give herself permission to vent them soon, she'd drown in them.

The other deeply concerning thing to Sasuke was how still she was. Sakura, as he'd come to know her, was a person who existed in perpetual motion. She was always moving. It wasn't as big and spazzy as Naruto, but her fingers would always drum along her sides, or run through her hair. She was constantly rolling onto her toes, shifting her weight back and forth gently, or tapping the tow of her sandal softly against the ground. When she armed herself with a kunai, it always came with a reflexive, dexterous, twirl around her fingers. If she sat for prolonged periods of time, she automatically just started stretching. It was abnormal for her to be this still, and it felt like he could see the kinetic energy building in her muscles, begging for release.

So, the morning of the third day after the funeral, when Sasuke stepped out of his room and saw Sakura wasn't in her usual spot, he thought maybe this was a good sign…that she was going to finally release everything she'd been holding. But when she walked through the door well after dark had fallen, and returned to her place on the couch, he saw that his hope had been for nothing. There was still no sign she'd cried and her muscles were still tense with unreleased energy. He still didn't say anything to her, trying to give her space. But when the same thing happened the next day, with no sign that she had released any of her emotions, Sasuke decided he had to intervene.

So five days after the funeral, Sasuke found Sakura sitting curled up in a ball, leaning against her mother's gave stone. He didn't say anything and neither did she. After staring at each other for a long moment, he sighed and sat down next to her about an arms distance away, his right knee bent with his elbow resting against it, left leg straight and leaning back against his left arm.

He didn't speak right away. He wasn't really sure what to say…he couldn't exactly counsel her on getting through grief…he hadn't really gotten through it to this day. He'd always preferred actions to words—words were Naruto's, and apparently Sakura's, thing. The first time he'd gotten her to spill what she was feeling, it had been anger, and it seemed like a fairly easy thing to provoke…grief…grief, he wasn't sure about.

"Why haven't you cried yet?" When in doubt, be direct, right?

Sakura blinked in surprise.

"…Why haven't I cried yet?"

"…Because…If I do, I don't think I'll be able to stop."

"So? It's alright in this situation." He cried the night of the massacre…and several days after.

"I don't…I shouldn't…not after everything I…"

Sasuke may not have been as smart as Sakura, but he was still able to infer where this was going.

"How is this your fault?"

Sakura swallowed hard. For a second, Sasuke thought she wouldn't answer, but then Sakura took a shuddering breath.

"The day of the finals…she…that morning, she asked me if she should come watch…my match, I mean…she…that morning she…she'd been coughing, and she looked so weak…I told her not to come…if I had let her…If she had been there, she would have been protected."

"Tch." Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes. He could understand her reasoning, could see how she'd made the jump to this being her fault. But still…

"If she'd gone she'd have probably gotten sicker, which you knew would happen, and if she stayed, there was no way to know of the attack. You picked the most logical option."

"Which got her killed."

"And if she'd gone, she probably would have gotten worse and died from that. You did what you thought was best."

"I was wrong."

"You can't know everything, Sakura. And you weren't wrong. It was a no win situation."

"…He's right…I know he's right, but…"

"It's not fair." Her voice broke and she felt her throat tighten. The glass wall she'd been safely tucked behind, watching the tidal wave of emotions build, was beginning to crack.

Sasuke had no answer to that. It wasn't fair. But apparently he didn't need to say anything, because Sakura kept going.

"I tried everything I could to keep her alive. I worked so hard and none of it mattered in the end! There was a part…there was a part of me that always knew it was a possibility. That I wouldn't be able to fix her, that I wouldn't be able to save up enough! That I'd never get her to a real doctor! I always knew there was a chance that she would—but I refused to listen to it cause if I did I'd stop trying and then she'd definitely—But a part of me was always preparing for it, but not like this! If she was gonna go, it was supposed to be slow—because whatever she had finally got to her! I was supposed to know it was happening I was supposed to be ready by then! She wasn't supposed to—it wasn't supposed to be like—I wasn't supposed to walk out the door and never see her again!" Her voice was shaking and her eyes stung. The tears weren't falling yet, but it was only a matter of moments. The cracks were running all up and down her glass wall, about to shatter.

Sasuke eyed the ground, pensively. That's how it had been for him. He'd walked out of the house one day and returned just in time to see his whole extended family dead and watch his mother and father murdered. There had been no preparing for it. His fist tightened.

"And I just hate myself so much because—" She stopped short, her vision swimming, though the tears had yet to drop.

Hate herself? What was there to hate herself for? For not being prepared? Until she said it, it had never even occurred to him that a loved one's death was something someone could prepare for. Maybe in a circumstance like Sakura's, but even then, he doubted it would make it any easier to deal with. For being supposedly at fault? He thought they'd moved on from that. "Why would you…?" He didn't finish the question, because when he looked over at her, tears were trailing down her face. Sakura was crying.

The glass wall shattered, and she was swept up in the swell of emotions crashing down on her. Her breathing became uneven as she began sobbing, burying her face in her arms.

His goal had been to finally get her to cry, so she could let it all out, but he hadn't prepared himself for what he would do once she did. Now that she was crying, he felt awkward and unsure. Should he leave her alone? Was he supposed to say something? If his mother were here, she'd probably hug her gently and tell her things would be alright…but he couldn't do that. He had no idea how things would turn out and this world was too ugly for him to say some pretty lie like everything would be okay…If Naruto were here, he'd probably hug her obnoxiously tight and tell her incessantly how awesome and smart and pretty she was and go on and on and on. He couldn't do that either…it'd be weird, creepy, and out of character. And…he did kind of want an answer. Why would she hate herself? She wasn't like him, who hadn't been strong enough to save his parents and stop Itachi. She'd done her best for her mother, and kept her alive far longer than anyone else in their situation would have been able to. What on earth could she possibly hate herself for?

"…Sakura…?"

She was drowning in her guilt, misery, and self hatred, but she grasped on to Sasuke's voice like a lifeline, his deep quiet tone soothing her, allowing her to catch a breath.

"Sakura, why would you hate yourself?"

She shook her head. If she said it out loud, he'd surely hate her too. It was so selfish and cruel and…

"Sakura. Tell me." He demanded firmly, but there was a softness in his tone that most who didn't know him well would miss.

"I…when it happened…when I first saw her there…there was a part of me—I hate it, it's so sick—but there was a part of me that…I felt relieved." The tears came even harder, her shoulders shaking with the revelation.

Sasuke stared at her, eyes wide. Oh. So that was why she hated herself…he could understand how she might find herself sickening for that. If he'd been relieved when his family died, it would have made him no better than his brother. He would have been just as terrible as Itachi. It was horrifying…who would be relieved that someone precious to them was dead? What kind of heartless monster felt relief over something like that? The idea of it was repulsive.

But then he thought about Sakura's apartment—too small for even a second futon. How she skipped out on ramen with her team because she couldn't afford it. How at the end of every mission, Sakura's pay was solely responsible for supporting both her and her mother. How it often wasn't enough and she had to do extra odd jobs and deals outside of it to scrape by. How whenever Sakura was away from her mother, a huge part of her was worrying about her, unable to focus fully on her given task. Sakura's situation wasn't the same as his. Sakura sacrificed a lot to keep her mother alive, including full meals, sleep, comfort, relaxation, training time, and free time. She'd existed in a state of constant stress and anxiety since she was eight years old. She'd said it herself the first time he forced out her emotions, her lack of training was by no choice of her own. She wanted to train and be strong, but her responsibilities to her mother prevented her from doing so. With her mother's death, she could finally breathe. She could finally eat better, sleep more, train more. She didn't have to worry about her mother on longer missions, able to put her full focus into her career. From her perspective, no longer having to care for her mother would actually be freeing…it would be a relief. It was unfortunate, but it made sense.

"Why wouldn't you be?"

Sakura's breath caught. "W-What?"

"Why wouldn't you be relieved?" He asked again, quietly.

"You don't…that's not…" Sakura didn't know what she'd expected, but it wasn't this.

"He's not…sickened by me?"

Sasuke looked away from her watery spring eyes, finding that the pain in them made him feel uncomfortable.

"Sakura, you slept on a bare floor. You never ate enough. You were always stressed about money, and worried about her…relief…makes sense…"

"You don't think it's sickening…?" She asked, shakily.

He looked back at her incredulously. "Hn…" Maybe if the situation was different but not in this case. "You're annoying. But…you're not sickening."

She gave a half laugh, half sob. She still didn't forgive herself, still found the fact that she took relief in her mother's death absolutely revolting. But if Sasuke could understand it, if he, who'd lost everyone he loved and got infuriated when anyone suggested being parentless had benefits, if Uchiha Sasuke could forgive her relief, and not be disgusted by her, then maybe one day, she'd at least be able to forgive herself for it too.

"This was why you came here, huh?"

"You still hold back, no matter how much we tell you not too."

"Sorry…habit."

"Hn…"

Sakura couldn't explain it, but she felt…better. Not great. Not even good…Honestly she felt horrible, but still, better. At the very least she felt something. None of the feelings were particularly good. But she felt them, which had to be better than not feeling them. Because the past four days of numbness, a piece of Sakura wasn't sure if she was even still alive…maybe it was her who was dead and that's why she felt nothing. At least now she knew. It sucked, and it hurt endlessly and she was miserable, but at least now she knew her heart was still beating.

They sat in silence, with the exception of Sakura's quiet sobs, until the sun began to sink below the tree line. Sasuke stood. He still had one more thing he needed to make sure she got out.

"Come on."

"Where?"

Sasuke didn't answer, he began walking away, and just like when he'd taken her stuff, Sakura followed.

---

When they reached an empty training field, Sasuke stopped, causing Sakura to stop as well.

"What are we doing here, Sasuke-kun?" Her voice was thick and tear choked—she hadn't stopped crying yet.

Sasuke didn't answer, but took out a music player and pressed play. Sasuke looked at her expectantly as music filled the air.

"What—"

"You don't do well with sitting still, do you?"

"I…No. I hate being still…but I didn't feel like moving before, so how could he tell?"

"He obviously pays a lot of attention to us! Eeeeek! He totally like us!"

"Stop talking. I haven't forgiven you yet."

Sasuke continued to stare at her expectantly but Sakura had yet to move. And it annoyed him. He could be training right now but he was here trying to make sure she got out everything she needed to—since she wouldn't do it on her own. He'd brought her to an open space, he was playing music for her, what else was she waiting for? He was never a patient person.

Sakura blinked and then shook her head a little. For the first time in five days, she actually felt the desire to move. Her muscles were twitching with their need, and the music Sasuke was playing shot right to her core…she needed to dance.

"I want to…I need to dance…but I'm not happy enough to dance to something like this."

She crossed to him, taking the music player from his hands and skipping through until she found a song that better suited her mood. She handed him back the music player, and stepped away, giving him a small nod when she was ready.

He hit play, and a much sadder, slower song than he had put on began to fill the air.

Sakura allowed the music free rein of her body, turning herself over to it, allowing it to puppet her. For once she didn't try to keep a hold on her emotions. She let them run through her, the music dictating her movements, and her sadness, grief, frustration, and relief powering them. Each move or trick brought with it memories of when she'd first been teaching herself, when she'd run and show her mother what she'd figured out.

It was months after her dad had taken her to see the beautiful traveling dancer when she managed to turn prettily on one leg, as she'd seen the dancer do.

"Mom! Mom!" She burst into their apartment to see her mother in the kitchen, she still had her bakery apron on, so she must have only arrived home recently.

"What is it Sakura-chan? Are you alright?" Mebuki asked with concern, turning to her daughter. The way she shouted with such urgency had worried her. But when she turned to look at the small girl, Sakura was wearing the brightest smile she'd ever seen from her.

"Watch this!" Sakura did the turn just as she had figured out, nailing it and turning to her mother proudly.

"Where…Where did you learn how to do that?"

"The pretty dancer Dad and I saw in the village center did a spin like that! She was faster though, and could go around more times and move her leg and stuff…but she was way bigger than me, so I'll keep working at it and by the time I'm as big as her, I'll be able to do all that stuff too!"

"You…You figured that out by yourself? No one taught you?"

"Well the pretty dancer lady did it once, so I just tried to do it too. I fell a bunch, but I'm ok!"

Mebuki stared at her daughter in awe before breaking into a smile large enough to match Sakura's. "You're so smart Sakura-chan! Keep working on it, ok? I'll bet you'll be able to do all the stuff she could by the time you're only half as big as her!"

"You really think so, mom?"

"Yup! So promise to show me alright? I want you to dance for me!"

"I promise!"

Sakura spun twice and kicked her leg up into a one eighty to her side, her torso leaning to the opposite side as she reached for something that wasn't there.

Sakura reached gracefully, as if her arms were floating, carried on the air, and not so tense she could feel the pull of her muscles against her bones. She twisted her torso, reaching for the leg that was up high to the side of her.

"That was beautiful Sakura-chan! That extension with your arms was gorgeous—how do you get them to look that light and floaty?"

Sakura reached up, twisting her torso towards her extended leg, before fan kicking it around and sliding into a graceful split on the ground.

Sakura sank proudly into a split in front of her mother. She'd finally managed to get both legs totally straight and pressed flat into the ground.

"A split?! That's awesome Sakura-chan! I've always wished I could do one! Just where did you get your flexibility from anyways, cause it certainly isn't from your father. Whose genetics do you have?"

"Yours, unless there's something you need to tell me."

Mebuki blinked in surprise that four year old Sakura even understood her statement. She forgot how smart her daughter was sometimes, and how much she liked to read. Mebuki squatted in front of Sakura, a smile brightening her face.

"Don't worry, you're most definitely my kid. No doubt about it, where else would you have gotten that super smart brain from?" She said, tussling Sakura's petal pink hair playfully and making the child laugh.

Sakura's vision blurred hard with her tears but she kept moving through the music, with all the pain and relief the movements brought.

Sasuke stared, speechless. He hadn't ever seen Sakura truly dance. Not with music. And feeling. This was like…he was watching her fall apart. Watching the grief slam into her and circulate through her with her blood and the music. Her movements were just as beautiful, precise and graceful as they always were, but it was like her limbs were painting her sadness. He could see it on full display, almost more than he could at the graveyard. It was breathtaking. And it made something in his chest ache painfully. It hurt to watch but her movements were too hypnotizing to look away.

The song ended. Sakura remained in the position she was in, on the ground on her knees, one hand cradling her heart, the other reaching out to the left, her head and gaze following it. There was a long pause before she stood and looked directly at Sasuke, tears pouring from her endlessly.

"He…I've never seen Sasuke-kun look this…sad before…His expression hasn't changed much, but his eyes…"

If Sasuke didn't know any better, he'd have somehow thought he was in a genjutsu. It was like the air was thick with energy…not chakra, but energy…emotions. Something in his chest kept pulling painfully, and it showed in his eyes. All the fond memories he had of his family, his loved ones, swam quickly through his mind, making him feel a renewed ache for them…and as he stared into Sakura's wet eyes, his memory pulled up the few moments where Sakura had genuinely laughed or smiled. Would she ever do that again? Looking at Sakura's tear drowned eyes, like jade submerged in a river, it seemed unlikely. He didn't know why that struck him as such a loss…the few times he'd seen her genuine smile and heard her true laugh, it had always made him think that that was how Sakura was supposed to look and sound. That was the expression she was supposed to wear. That was the sound she was supposed to make. It felt so wrong, so sad, that she might never smile or laugh like that again…

"I…I know I'm not alone. Not the way he and Naruto were for so long. Because even though I lost mom, I lost her when I already had them, and Kakashi-sensei. And Ino-pig, Shikamaru, Hinata-chan and Kiba…It's not that I'm lonely. But I lost the person who meant the world to me…the only one who always knew what I was feeling, whether I told her or not, she always knew what I needed…I thought…there'd never be anyone else like that—who knew what I needed…but Sasuke-kun…He actually…I…I really love him."

"Sasuke-kun, thank you for this." And even though she felt so broken, and miserable, even though she was in so much pain, in that one moment, the only two emotions she focused on were her gratitude and love for the dark eyed boy in front of her.

Some of the sadness he felt lightened just barely. Sakura was smiling. It was small, and tears were pouring from her eyes, but her smile matched her words—completely sincere and genuine. If she could find it in herself to bring that expression up now, while barely keeping her head above the misery trying to pull her under, then maybe, with some time, she'd be able to smile again…maybe even more frequently now that she didn't have the threat of her mother's death always looming over her. He suddenly felt a little warmer than he should have. But then, he was assaulted with the image of her giving that smile to Gaara as he crushed her to death. To Naruto while he recounted his battle with Gaara—a battle Sasuke had been useless in. A battle that had almost cost Sakura her life in two different ways. He hadn't been strong enough to save her. He hadn't been strong enough to do anything, relying on his teammates to handle everything. He was too weak. Irritation replaced the warmth he felt. He needed to train, to get stronger…he'd learned Kakashi's specialty jutsu, so why did it feel like…why did it feel like Naruto was stronger than him? Why did it feel like the dead last had surpassed him? At this rate, Sakura would keep taking hits for him—he wouldn't be strong enough to protect her, let alone kill Itachi. And Itachi needed to pay for what he'd done, for taking everyone he loved from him and leaving him alone. He needed more power!

"Hn…" He had sunk too deeply into his thoughts to give her a proper answer, not that he really would have known how to respond in the first place. The spell had broken. The air no longer felt charged with emotion…maybe it still was, but he could no longer feel it, having lost himself in the turn his mind took and broken the moment of connection.

But Sakura knew Sasuke almost as well as Sasuke seemed to know her. Her tear blurred vision swept over the empt training ground before settling back on the raven haired boy.

"You lost a lot of training time for this…Go ahead. I need to wash and fix the clothes I have left anyways. And make some stuff to sell…Would you mind if I used your kitchen?"

"Hn?" Sasuke's mind caught up with what she was saying. He stared blankly at her. Once again, this girl was putting his needs in front of hers…why'd she keep doing that? And…how terrible of him was it that he was going to let her?

"Tch. Why would I mind you using my kitchen when I told you stay there in the first place?"

"It's your space Sasuke-kun. I don't want to be in your way or mess anything up."

She really was so different from fangirls. They'd be tearing his place apart for intel on new ways to seduce him.

"Do whatever you want. Just don't go in my room."

Sakura nodded, turning to go.

Something about letting her walk away like that felt wrong.

"Sakura…" She looked back at him, surprised he'd called out to her, wet eyes dripping tears continuously. "I'll see you later."

Sakura blinked in surprise, before a small smile made its way to her lips. She hummed her affirmation, before leaving him alone to his training.

---

Sakura met Ino at the Yamanaka compound the next day. She didn't really want to go out, but she had promised her best friend, and Ino had been patient with her and given her some time alone. The blond was probably worried sick about her, and she hated making Ino worry. It was that thought that drove her out of Sasuke's apartment.

Ino wasted no time in wrapping her best friend into a crushing hug, making Sakura wince—her ribs were still a little bruised.

"Forehead!" Ino pulled away, carefully studying Sakura's face. Her eyes were a little swollen, and seemed somehow greener then usual. She remembered back when Sakura had cried easily, her face always looked like this afterwards.

Sakura hadn't lied when she told Sasuke if she started crying, she didn't think she'd be able to stop. Her tears had only ceased falling a half hour before she'd needed to meet up with Ino. And she figured that as soon as she was away from her best friend's presence she'd start crying again—it didn't feel like she used up her tears yet, more like she'd just reigned in enough emotional control to stall them temporarily.

"Come on, we'll go get you some clothes and then get some food, ok?"

"Thanks Pig, but I'm not really hungry." Ino's eyes narrowed. Sakura was always hungry, so that was clearly a bad sign.

"Tea, then." The blond then pulled her out of the compound and the two set off, though Sakura became aware that they were heading away from Konoha center, where the shops were.

"Pig, where are we going?"

"I invited Hinata. Rookie Nine girl bonding time! We never did get to know her well at the academy. You got a head start while training with her, but we girls need to stick together, yeah?"

"You…invited Hinata-chan?"

"Ino-chan…She's trying to make sure I don't isolate myself like I did before…"

They stopped outside the Hyuga compound, and informed one of them members they were looking for Hinata, but it wasn't necessary. The Hyuga girl came running out to meet them.

"Th-Thank you for i-inviting me, Ino-chan. S-Sakura-chan, I hope you d-don't mind."

Sakura shook her head. "It's alright Hinata-chan. I don't mind at all."

The three girls set off for Konoha center, with Ino and surprisingly Hinata carrying most of the conversation.

---

Sakura had forgotten how long shopping with Ino could take, and by the time they left the last store three hours later, Sakura felt drained. But she now had five new outfits—the same style as Ino had gotten for her a month earlier, a winter and a summer outfit, three sets of pajamas, and basic necessities like bras and underwear. It was more clothing than Sakura could ever remember owning at once. Hinata footed most of the bill, adopting Ino's excuse of having missed birthdays to make up for, which had Ino beaming and brought out a half hearted laugh from Sakura.

Despite her protests, the two other girls dragged her out to a teahouse for a snack.

"So where are you staying, Forehead?"

Sakura stared down at the anko dumplings the girls had ordered for her, feeling an awkward twinge of guilt.

"With…with Sasuke-kun."

There was a long pause at the table, Ino's narrowed eyes never leaving Sakura, Sakura's remaining glued to her uneaten dumplings, and Hinata's pinging uncomfortably between them—she'd seen their fight after all, and knew how they both felt about Sasuke.

Finally, Ino sighed. "Well…Obviously you can't stay with Naruto. Based off of how unorganized he was at the academy, his place is probably too much of a mess for anyone else to stay in. And Asuma-sensei said Kakashi-sensei only reads mission scrolls and porn, so you can't stay with him. Sasuke-kun's the only choice."

Sakura's eyes snapped to Ino.

"You're…not mad?"

"Why would I be? It's not your fault and it's not like you seduced him or anything—and even if you had, we already talked about this. I'm not giving up and neither are you, but whichever way his decision goes, we respect it. I'm jealous that you get to see Sasuke-kun walking around his apartment shirtless, but I'd rather that than you being left on the streets, or forced to camp out in the woods or something…Honestly, I wanted you to stay with me but there are a bunch of stupid clan rules that prohibit it!"

"I know Pig, I read about clan rules and etiquette after we first became friends."

"Of course you did." Ino muttered dryly. She was still annoyed about that dumb rule. Once she was in charge, she was definitely gonna change that.

A brief silence fell over the girls, which was eventually broken by Hinata.

"S-Sakura-chan…If…If you aren't up to answering this, then p-please forget I asked but…wh-what was your mother like? I…I never got the chance to meet her, so…I was wondering…my own mother is very p-proper, distant, and s-strict, because she takes her duties to the Hyuga c-clan very seriously, s-so I'm not very c-close with her…"

Sakura swallowed hard and took a sip of her tea, her eyes misting over.

"I am not going to cry in public…I won't do that again…that's private. Only those really close to me are allowed to see that…" She instead diverted her mind to Hinata. "She's grown a lot…she didn't even stutter that much…she's pretty close to me, but her and Ino-pig only just became friends. She really is coming out of her shell…and I don't want to encourage her to go back into it by not answering and making her feel bad…"

"My mom was a civilian, and I'm not really from a clan…well, not a formalized one anyways…so, my mom was always warm and supportive of me. She never tried to force anything on me because there were no expectations we had to live up to as Harunos…I've thought this a few times before…coming from a shinobi family, having a clan backing you…it has its benefits, which I've always been jealous of, but…I'm not jealous of the way a lot of you were raised. Even clans that aren't as strict as the Hyuga, there's still expectations on you of what type of ninja you're supposed to be. My mother expected me to achieve my dream, and be great, but there were no constraints or pressures placed on how. I could be any kind of ninja I wanted, I could get skilled at any hobby I wanted…none of that mattered to her, so long as I was happy and achieving my own goals." It was all she could say before her throat constricted, and her eyes burned. She kept her focus on her tea the whole time, unable to meet either of her friends' eyes, as she blinked away the tears in her own.

Hinata smiled softly. "I…I wish I had that kind of support from any of my family…" She murmured quietly, feeling envious of Sakura's family life.

"But there are drawbacks though." Ino explained, eyeing her pink haired friend sadly. "I only started learning about it after Sakura-chan and I became friends, but there really isn't a lot of support from the village for civilian families or civilian born ninja. Mebuki-obachan was really tough, carrying through it all and always smiling and teasing, but…She and Sakura-chan had to go through crap you and I never even thought about as a problem, Hinata-chan."

Hinata looked down sadly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"Don't be," Sakura said gently, looking up at her pale eyed friend, having finally pushed back the tears. "I never told you, and worked as hard as I could so no one would know. Besides, after hearing about your family dynamic during the chunin exams…I've never been more thankful for the way my mom raised me…how are things with Neji, by the way? Did Naruto actually manage to knock some sense into him?"

"Actually, yes! Thanks to N-Naruto-kun, N-Neji-niisan…he actually a-apologized to me. I think something happened between him and f-father too, because…f-father started t-training him…" Her eyes dropped at this, a little sadly, which both other girls immediately took note of.

"What about you? Has your dad started training you?"

Hinata shook her head. "I'm not g-good enough…He…He g-gave up on me long ago. He f-favors my younger sister, because she's strong than m-me. To h-him, I'm…just a w-waste of space…" She'd never admitted it out loud to anyone before. Kurenai knew…and it was no secret among the clan that Hanabi had been named heir, but no one outside knew just how low her father's opinion of her was.

Sakura felt something hard and hot tighten in her core, cutting through the grief and misery she felt.

"How dare he make her feel so weak!"

"His loss!" Ino declared fiercely.

"I-Ino-chan…?"

"Sakura-chan asked you to train her for the finals, right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Well, I don't know if you noticed or not, but Sakura-chan's got a huge forehead because her brain's so big. She wouldn't waste her time asking someone who wasn't good enough to train her, isn't that right, Forehead?"

"Yeah. I told you before, didn't I, Hinata-chan? During your battle with Neji, I was more impressed with you and your movements." Sakura answered with a firm nod.

"So, if Sakura-chan thought you were more impressive than Neji—then she's right and your dad's wrong. Sakura-chan's pretty much never wrong, after all."

"Well…that's not true…cause I made the wrong choice and it got mom killed…but I'm not gonna dispute it right now…Hinata-chan needs to know there are others rooting for her."

"That's right, and I think one day, you're going to be the strongest Hyuga clan member there is."

"I d-don't think—"

"And Naruto probably would agree."

Hinata devolved into a stammering mess.

"What you said to him before the finals meant a lot to him."

Hinata's eyes widened, her face scarlet.

Ino giggled. "Wow girl, you got it bad!"

"N-N-No I-I-I-I wh-what I m-mean is—"

Ino started laughing, and Hinata finally gave up—beet red but giggling softly. In spite of herself, Sakura gave a small smile. She wasn't happy, but it was comforting to know that she had these two in her life, that they would share moments like this with her, just sitting in a tea shop and talking. The way friends were supposed to. Sakura had never imagined being able to spend time like this…but she could now.

"I feel so far away and removed from it right now, but I know they'll be a next time for this, because these two are my friends…and maybe next time, I'll really be able to enjoy it."

---

Hinata and Ino walked Sakura towards Sasuke's apartment, but they were unfortunately intercepted by one of the last people Sakura wanted to see. Ami.

"Ino-chan!" She called with too much sweetness, until she realized who the popular blond was standing next to. "What are you doing with that loser?" She asked coldly.

"What loser?" Ino answered with fake sweetness that didn't reach her eyes. "You don't mean Sakura-chan, do you? Because last I checked, she isn't a loser at all. She even won her match during the chunin exam finals."

"I thought we already talked about this. Her or the rest of us."

"Her." Ino answered coldly. "We're not in the Academy anymore—at least, I'm not. And if you and your little goons want to turn against me, fine. If that's all it takes, you aren't worth being friends with anyways."

"Fine. I was only trying to save you, you know. She's cursed. Anyone close to her ends up getting killed."

The tightened hot feeling in her stomach grew. The simmering annoyance she'd felt earlier towards Hinata's father, grew into bubbling anger towards Ami.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"D-D-Don't say that! J-Just l-leave Sakura-chan alone!" Hinata interjected, her voice soft and unsure because she was so unused to talking back to others. But she couldn't just stand there and let someone say that to Sakura, especially after she'd just lost her mother!

"D-D-Don't say that!" Ami mocked. "Trying to grow a back bone, Hinata? Don't you think it's a bit late for that? Scaredy cat Hyuga princess."

"How dare she go after Hinata-chan!"

"Oh shut up! Every time you talk you lower the collective IQ of the planet!" Sakura snarled darkly, making all eyes jump to her in shock. Sakura hadn't talked back to Ami since she was six, when the purple haired girl had turned Sakura's own insult against her to further lower other's impressions of her.

"So rude. This is the kind of girl you two throw your lot in with? Clearly your mom didn't raise you right. You do realize that attack probably happened in the first place because she's even allowed to stay in this village. Her kind always attracts enemies and gets everyone around them killed."

The anger boiled over.

She didn't even know how it happened, but one minute she'd been standing between Ino and Hinata, the next she'd tackled Ami to the ground, slamming her fist into the girls face repeatedly. There was shouting around her, Ami was screeching, but Sakura didn't care. She just kept pummeling the girl. Ami only landed one good counter hit in, splitting Sakura's lip, before orange sleeved arms were pulling her away.

"Sakura-chan…"

She recognized that voice and those sleeves immediately. They'd been teammates for a while now, after all. "Naruto, let go of me!"

"I know she probably deserves it, but she's had enough—believe it! She's not even a ninja, Sakura-chan! Don't abuse your power." His words made her freeze.

"What am I…What am I doing? I'm better than this…"

Sakura finally stopped thrashing, and seeing as she'd calmed down, Naruto released her. Her anger calmed, but the hot tight feeling didn't leave her stomach. She glanced over at Ami who was sitting up, her hand to her bleeding mouth, her face horribly bruised, both eyes blackened, and her nose bleeding.

"She might have a concussion or a broken nose. She should get checked out at the hospital." Sakura muttered coldly, though a wave of self revulsion hit her hard.

"What the hell have I done?!" Thank god Naruto had stopped her. She figured he, Kakashi, or Sasuke were the only ones who could have in that moment. She implicitly trusted them more than anyone else. That, and they were all people of action. Words weren't enough to stop her, she'd needed someone to physically pull her away, and they were the only ones she would have allowed to do that.

Ino sighed. "I'll take her. Not that she deserves any help from us." She looked over at Sakura in concern. "You…okay?" Ino had always secretly wanted Sakura to deck Ami in the face, but her friend had proved more controlled than that. She'd never lost it the way she just did…Ino knew that it was natural when people were going through loss for them to lash out…but it still took her by surprise.

Sakura nodded. Ino didn't look convinced, but she made her way over to Ami, and helped her up, casting one last worried look at Sakura before leading Ami off to the hospital.

"When did you get here, Naruto?" Sakura asked quietly, staring down at her hands.

"Ah, pretty much like right before I pulled you off that brat. I was around the corner and heard a lot of shouting so I came to check it out, y'know? And then I saw Hinata, so I came over to say hi, but then I saw you punchin the crap outta that Ami girl, and Hinata and Ino were yelling and looked all worried so I pulled you off." Naruto knew from one look at Sakura that she wasn't ok. Normally she didn't hit anyone but him—always one and done, and usually warranted. He'd never seen her wail on someone like that before though. That wasn't normal Sakura behavior. And she looked really tired, like she hadn't been sleeping at all. He knew she was staying with Sasuke…at first he'd been a bit jealous, but then he'd taken one look at his apartment and realized there was no way Sakura could stay with him instead…he really did need to clean his place more. But if Sakura wasn't sleeping well, and the bastard wasn't trying to do anything to help her, he swore he'd kick Sasuke's ass.

Sakura ran a hand through her hair uncomfortably. "…Sorry. Thanks for stopping me, Naruto."

"I mean it…I don't know what came over me but I just got so…angry. I don't think I would have stopped on my own…and I was completely ignoring Ino-chan and Hinata-chan. If Naruto hadn't pulled me off her, I really think I would have kept going…

"It's alright Sakura-chan, I bet she deserved it."

"She did." Hinata said quietly, blushing when Naruto turned to her.

"You alright? Did she say something to you?" The idea of someone being mean to someone as nice as Hinata really bugged him.

"N-No, N-N-Naruto-kun, I-I'm fine! She didn't—"

"She called her coward." Sakura cut in, observing the way Naruto's eyes narrowed angrily, his cheerful blue irises taking on a positively stormy quality.

Naruto growled. If there was one thing Hinata wasn't, it was a coward. Cowards didn't enter a test they didn't feel positive they could pass in an attempt to challenge and change themselves. Cowards didn't face their "stronger" bully of a cousin throwing constant mental and emotional abuse to manipulate them into quitting in combat. Cowards didn't keep getting up and trying harder no matter how many hits they took. Hinata was far from a coward.

"Y-Yes, b-but she was worse to Sakura-chan."

"Yeah, well…that's nothing new." She muttered tiredly, passing a hand through her hair again, feeling herself calm just a little.

"Ugh. That girl's the worst! Why does she have it out for you, Sakura-chan?"

"…Her uncle was on my dad's team when they got ambushed…a few of the families blamed him for it."

"That's not your fault! And it wasn't his!"

"You've seen my clan's kekkei genkai." Sakura said flatly.

"It's not a curse! And that's no reason to take it out on you!" Naruto insisted. It had terrified him when he actually saw it happen to her, but he refused to call it a curse. Sakura wasn't cursed. She wasn't a walking jinx or bad luck or anything like that.

"Curse?" Hinata asked.

Both turned to her.

"Ah, well it's, uh…" Naruto scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.

"I'll explain later, Hinata-chan, but it'll take a while and I'm kinda tired."

"O-Oh, of course, I understand S-Sakura-chan. Y-You must want to go home."

"Home…I guess Sasuke-kun's apartment is my home for now…"

"You should get some rest Sakura-chan! You look real tired. And I swear if that bastard isn't feeding you, I'll kick his ass so hard he won't be able to sit down for a month! Believe it!"

"You two never stop, do you. Sasuke-kun's being really nice, Naruto, so don't worry about it. I'll get going now." She said, taking the bag of clothes from her pale eyed friend. "Thanks again for this, Hinata-chan. Naruto, make sure she gets home, yeah?"

She walked away, ignoring Naruto's worried looks and Hinata's light stammers of protest.

Naruto sighed, watching her walk away. He had wanted to tell her about how the pervy sage wanted to take him out of Konoha on a mission to find some lady while he trained with him, and that they would be leaving tomorrow, but he could tell from one glance that it wasn't a good time to bring it up.

---

When Sakura walked in, Sasuke was in the kitchen.

"I'm home." Sakura murmured quietly, as per the etiquette Mebuki had drilled into her.

In the kitchen, Sasuke froze. He'd never been outside of his room when she'd come in before, so he never heard her quiet announcement. He hadn't heard anyone say that since he was eight…he hadn't said those words since he was eight. There was something strange about anyone addressing his apartment as 'home.' He'd never thought of it like that…

"Welcome home…" the words slipped from his mouth, pulled from a distant memory. He saw himself at six returning home from the academy and giving the same announcement as Sakura, his mother's voice welcoming him back…later, while helping his mother set the table, his beloved big brother gave the same announcement, finally home from a mission, and Sasuke excitedly welcomed him back…how times had changed…he now hated and aimed to kill his beloved big brother who'd killed their entire family.

The sound of the door shutting behind Sakura broke him out of his dazed state and turned to face her, his eyes narrowing in immediately on her split lip. "What happened to you?"

The second the door had shut behind her, the tears she'd been holding back all afternoon began leaking out. She let out a tired sigh, setting down the bag of clothes.

"Sakura." Sasuke pressed.

"It's fine Sasuke-kun. She's worse."

"She?"

"…Ami."

"What do you mean by worse?" Sasuke asked tightly. So, that girl had harassed her again.

"Two black eyes, possible concussion, possible broken nose—it was definitely bloody, split lip, bruises…" She felt mortified.

"I can't believe I lost it like that…and I still feel…I still feel so irritated."

"Good." Sasuke smirked, darkly. That girl deserved it.

Sakura shook her head. "I'm tired." She muttered. She reached into the bag of clothes, pulled out a new set of pajamas and underwear, and ducked into the bathroom.

Sasuke turned back to his cooking, feeling unsure. As much as he had wanted Sakura to put that Ami girl in her place, she had never been that…violent before. She punched Naruto, or smacked him upside the head, occasionally when he did something particularly stupid, but nothing as extreme and rage driven as pummeling someone repeatedly. While he supported it, it was…out of character for her…Kakashi had asked to meet him for tea the next morning, which Sasuke suspected was to get a report on Sakura's condition. This seemed like something he should probably mention.

The sentiment was reinforced for Sasuke when Sakura emerged from the bathroom and immediately curled up on the couch, pulling the blanket up and turning on her side facing away from the room. She hadn't touched any of the food Sasuke set out for her. That was unusual. Even if she hadn't had much of an appetite, she always took one or two bites of food at the very least. She'd never not made any attempts to eat before. Nor had she ever tried to fake sleep as she was doing now. Something was wrong, and he'd bet that it had to do with beating the crap out of Ami. He'd definitely have to report it to Kakashi tomorrow.

---

Kakashi leaned against the side of a tea and snack shop, lost in thought over what Jiraya had told him the other day. The Akastuki were after jinchuriki. That meant they'd be coming after Naruto. Sakura was still grieving, and while Orochimaru had been severely injured, he wouldn't put it past the snake to make another attempt at Sasuke. There really was always something with his team…he envied Asuma and Kurenai, who had nice boring teams, all of whom had healthy parents and minimal emotional trauma. But it'd be a lie to say his team hadn't grown on him. Naruto had a way of endearing himself to everyone who met him, including his detached sensei, and was such a well of potential who worked so hard, that he couldn't not root for him. His unpredictable spontaneity made him both a stressful student to have in his care, as well as an incredibly entertaining one. He saw so much of himself in Sasuke it was impossible not to relate to the boy and take him under his wing, and the kid was a prodigy—a total genius…to think a genin had actually succeeded in mastering his signature chidori and now possessed two chakra nature changes. He rarely worried about Sasuke in battle—at least, he didn't use to, Orochimaru's curse mark changed somethings though. And Sakura…he respected Sakura more than some Jonin he knew. She was clearly a genius with huge potential in her own right—even if it was different from the boys. He'd become incredibly protective of her after learning of her curse of a kekkei genkai, and while he had to admit the girl had figured out how to manage it, he still found himself worrying about her. It was worry that had made him early for this meeting.

Kakashi sighed and looked to the side tiredly, noticing Asuma and Kurenai passing by.

"Yo!" He greeted lazily.

"How's Sakura?" Kurenai immediately asked. She'd heard what happened through Asuma, who'd heard it from Ino.

"Well, she's going through it…" He was here in the first place to get an update. "Thank you for training with her the past month."

"Don't thank me for emotionally torturing your student…She's tough Kakashi. And she's got a high aptitude for genjutsu…don't neglect her."

"I'm working on it." He really was trying his best not to neglect any of his students…if he couldn't see to their training directly, he did his best to find them someone he trusted or give them specific things to work on. But it really was difficult when his team was so…messy. By the nature of each of their circumstances, each one felt like they needed specialized twenty-four seven monitoring and training, and he was only one person. When he'd taken this team, he'd been under the impression Naruto would be the only one with a dangerous condition, as the nine-tails carrier, and Sasuke would be the only one with extreme emotional baggage. Oh how wrong he'd been. He decided it was time for a subject change.

"I'm seeing you two together a lot recently…you're so chummy. Are you on a date?"

"Fool. Anko asked me to buy her some dango." Kurenai lied, looking away, her cheeks scarlet.

"What about you? What are you doing here? I thought you didn't like sweets?" Asuma countered quickly.

"Well…I came to buy something to put on a grave, so I figured I'd just meet up with someone while I was at it. Sasukue, actually."

Kakashi became aware of a shift in energy behind him. The small flaps in the entrance to the tea house blocked him from getting a good look at who was inside, but he caught sight of distinctive black robes with red cloud designs on them. He'd never seen robes like that in Konoha before. He heard the soft clink indicating one of the strangers must have set their tea mug down.

"That's a rare sight for you to be waiting for someone." Asuma commented lightly, aware of Kakashi's guard raising, causing both his and Kurenai's to raise as well.

Arriving just after Asuma's statement, Sasuke walked towards the tea house surprised to see his teacher already waiting.

"Whoa, Kakashi…you showed up before me?" During his month training out of the village with his teacher, much of his formality had dropped.

"Well! I can be on time once in a while…" Kakashi answered amicably.

Sasuke glanced at the teahouse, noting the empty table with two mugs of tea and a plate of dango.

"I don't like Natto or sweet things…" He muttered.

"Oh…really." They really were so much alike. But more importantly, the two robed strangers were gone, and that was highly suspicious. "Huh." He spared a brief glance to Asuma and Kurenai, who both nodded and leapt away quickly in pursuit.

"What's wrong with them?" Sasuke asked. Jonin never usually rushed away like that unless something was wrong. "What's going on?"

"Nothing important…but, there's actually something I forgot I needed to check in on. Let's meetup for lunch instead." Kakashi began walking away calmly.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Something was definitely going on.

"Aren't you worried about Sakura?"

The Jonin stopped, glancing back at his student, who was glaring at him searchingly.

"You wouldn't have been here early if you weren't." Sasuke said knowingly. His teacher stopping at the mention of her name was enough of a tip off. So whatever was going on was enough to distract Kakashi from his worry, which meant it definitely wasn't nothing important as the Jonin had claimed.

"You didn't forget you needed to check up on something. There's something happening, so what is it?"

"It doesn't concern you. We'll talk later…" He began to walk away again but stopped and sighed. "How is she?"

As much as Sasuke wanted to withhold the information until Kakashi told him why he was acting so weird, his concern for his teammate outweighed his desire for answers. He looked down at the ground, kicking at the dirt in frustration.

"She's…I thought she was doing better…at least, she finally stopped holding it all in…but something happened yesterday. She…got in a fight…and she didn't eat anything last night."

"She got in a fight?"

"She had a bloody lip…and she said the other girl was worse." Sasuke contemplated his shadow darkly. He understood being angry, maybe better than anyone. He understood the need to lash out, he did it frequently. But…it felt wrong coming from Sakura. He knew she had a temper that she always kept tightly lidded. It had been apparent from the first time she'd punched Naruto during their introductions. But it was never the way she'd handled Ami in the past. She'd proven to him that passivity actually had been the best weapon against that purple haired banshee…changing her tactic, losing it like that, it wasn't right coming from Sakura.

Kakashi's brow furrowed. Sakura wasn't the type to flaunt her power or callously hurt people, and viewed picking fights as unnecessary and a waste of energy. And she was always hungry—not having an appetite right now was understandable, but Sakura detested wasting food…if she wasn't eating…that wasn't a good sign…he wanted more details—a full rundown, but he needed to follow up on those strangers. Jiraya had warned of the Akatsuki coming after Naruto, which was why he took Naruto with him out of the village. There was a good chance it was Akatsuki members who'd been in the tea shop moments ago. As worried as he was about Sakura, this could be life or death for Naruto…he had to follow up on it. Plus, if it was the member of the Akatsuki he feared it was, he had to keep Sasuke away.

"We'll talk more later. Keep an eye on her. Make sure she eats something."

"Why don't you do it?" Sasuke muttered irritably. As worried as he was about Sakura, keeping an eye on her would cut into his training time, and he needed to get stronger…he wasn't progressing fast enough. He was doing his best, getting her to release her emotions, putting out food for her and letting her stay with him…but he had no idea what he was doing. He'd never been good at caring for others feelings, or his own for that matter. He'd never gotten over his loss, so how could he be expected to help someone else through theirs? He couldn't take responsibility for her—it shouldn't be on him to do so in the first place.

Kakashi glanced back at the boy, his lips drawing into a tight line. It was a callous thing to say, and to anyone else, it would seem like Sasuke didn't care. But he knew Sasuke was already doing a lot by letting her stay with him, and it was probably bringing up some unpleasant memories for him of when he'd lost his family. He was just a twelve year old kid. One unused to having to take care of others. As their sensei, and the closest adult both of them had, he needed to step up…not that he'd ever been great with taking care of others either…

"Bring her with you when we talk later."

Kakashi leapt away before Sasuke had the chance to protest or question any further.

---

Sasuke didn't go back to his apartment right away, instead going to the training grounds to at least get a little training in, and work off some of his frustrations. He felt unsure of what his priorities should be. In their team's encounter with Gaara, he'd picked his team, ready to lay down his life for them, as he had on multiple occasions before. But those were life and death. He would die for his team, even if it meant never accomplishing his goal. Outside of those situations however, his goal still stood. It was still his purpose for living. He needed more power, and for some reason, his training didn't seem to be granting it to him. He'd been utterly useless against Gaara, but Naruto…he kept getting stronger, almost abnormally so compared to their ninja academy days, when he was called a failure…it was virtually unbelievable progress. When Sasuke watched him up close, he could tell he had some massive power inside him. Sometimes he even felt afraid of him. Just what in the world was Uzumaki Naruto? How could Sasuke get stronger?

…Still, his concern kept pushing Sakura to the front of his mind. He finally gave up after an hour and a half, deciding to return home.

He walked in to his apartment to see Sakura on the floor stretching. It should have been a reassuring sight. She was moving, stretching like she used to, instead of her unnatural stillness. But it wasn't. Unlike when she normally stretched, Sakura's muscles looked so tight, they might rip in half. She was too tense to be stretching like that, it looked painful…boarder line dangerous.

A glance at the coffee table revealed an untouched plate of food he'd left out for her that morning.

"Why haven't you eaten anything?"

Sakura's head shot up at the sound of his voice. She'd been spacing out, lost in thought with her eyes trained on a spec on the floor, so she hadn't noticed Sasuke come in.

"Oh! Welcome home, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke faltered at those words. It had been so long since he heard those words directed at him…he felt an unexpected warmth up the back of his neck. He hadn't processed what it meant to have Sakura staying with him. But now, there was someone there to greet him when he walked in. Now he wasn't coming home to an empty apartment…to no one. He suddenly felt a guilty pit settle in his stomach, for having complained about keeping an eye on her earlier.

"You haven't eaten."

"I'm not hungry." She countered quickly, her eyes dropping back to the floor. She'd woken up antsy and irritated, the thought of food felt nauseating. She thought maybe stretching would help release some of the irritation, but it wasn't working. She still felt tense and wound up.

"You should still eat. You didn't eat anything yesterday either."

"I'm not your responsibility so don't worry about it!" She snapped. The second she processed her words, her eyes shot wide.

"What…What the hell did I just say?! Sasuke-kun's done so much for me! He doesn't deserve that! Why did I…Why did I say that?"

Her annoyance from the previous days encounter hadn't subsided at all, and she found it unsettling.

"There's no reason for me to be annoyed right now, so why am I? Why'd I wake up so irritated? Why isn't this working?!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Sakura never snapped at him. All of her admonishments towards him had almost always been gentle, and the few times she'd genuinely yelled at him, he'd deserved it. That definitely wasn't the case this time. A piece of him wanted to be angry at her. She should be grateful that he even let her stay. But more than angry, he felt hurt and concerned. Her words bothered him. Despite having said almost the same exact thing to Kakashi earlier, it bothered him that she refused to let him take responsibility for her. She'd taken responsibility for her mother at eight years old, but refused to let him take responsibility for her at age twelve? They were teammates! What did she expect him to do, leave her on the street? Trust her to fend for herself? And she'd never been short tempered with him before. From the horrified look on her face, it wasn't something she'd meant to say and felt bad about immediately.

"I'm…Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry I just…" She stood up, shifting her weight a little feeling unsure.

"Just what? Woke up pissed for no reason and decided to take it out on the the next person I saw, which was obviously gonna be him?!"

"Hn…" Sasuke grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the door. Kakashi did say to bring her with him after all.

"H-Hey! Sasuke-kun, what are you—?"

"Is he gonna kick me out? I wouldn't blame him, but…I don't want to go!"

Sasuke didn't answer, towing her out the door and down the street. Sakura didn't fight him, feeling too guilty about snapping at him to protest.

---

Kakashi had never specified where Sasuke should meet him, and when Sasuke dragged Sakura past the tea house they'd met at earlier, Kakashi wasn't there. Nor could he sense him anywhere around. So, Sasuke decided it would be best to just go to their sensei's apartment. He didn't want to plant in one place for too long, should Sakura try to run away. Although, she wasn't putting up much of a fight. She wasn't saying much of anything at all. She followed silently, letting him drag her along without a single complaint. Clearly she still felt bad about snapping at him earlier…she didn't need to beat herself up that much over it. He wasn't holding it against her, considering how much of an asshole he was to her sometimes, it seemed only fair she snap at him on occasion.

Sakura looked around at the building Sasuke lead her through, towards the door at the end of the hallway.

"So he really is gonna off load me on to someone else…I ruined everything."

Sasuke pushed open his sensei's door, pulling Sakura with him.

"Kakashi…" He stopped short, noticing Kakashi in bed surrounded by the other Jonin sensei. "…Why's Kakashi bedridden?"

Sakura's eyes immediately widened. She pulled herself out of Sasuke's grasp and was by Kakashi's side in an instant. She held the back of her hand to the side of his face, trying to get a read on his temperature, before pressing her lips to his forehead.

"What? What's going on…?"

"He's running a low grade fever, but that shouldn't be enough to knock him out like this…"

"What are all you Jonin doing here…What the hell's going on?!" Sasuke demanded. Kakashi had been acting weird earlier, and now he was unconscious surrounded by Jonin, which was a very bad sign.

"…Oh…it's nothing really…" Gai began, already sounding too unsure to be believable.

The door suddenly pushed open more, a jonin in glasses standing in the entry.

"Is it true that Itachi showed up in town?! And that he's after Naruto?!" The man blurted before noting the presence of the two genin in the room. "…Oh!"

Sasuke and Sakura both froze, though for different reasons.

Sasuke's entire body was rigid, his eyes wide and angered. He looked like an angered rabid cat who'd just been chased into a corner and was seconds from pouncing.

Sakura only processed the tail end of the jonin's question.

"First Orochimaru goes after Sasuke-kun and now someone's targeting Naruto?! Why?! Why do people keep going after them?!"

"Idiot…" Kurenai hissed, as Gai grunted, bringing a hand to his face.

Then Sasuke darted out of the room, shoving passed the unfortunate messenger.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called after him, but he was already around the corner and out the building. Gai rushing out after him.

Sakura immediately made to follow, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned to see Kurenai wearing a serious expression.

"Sensei, tell me what's going on."

"You should stay out of this Sakura. It's particularly dangerous for you."

"This Itachi person, who's after Naruto…he's related to Kakashi-sensei's condition, isn't he?"

Asuma and Kurenai exchanged a brief glance. No matter how clever they knew Sakura was, it was always a little surprising just how quickly she put things together. Especially in her emotionally and mentally taxed state due to the recent loss of her mother.

"Yes." Kurenai answered slowly.

"Sasuke-kun reacted strongly to his name. Who is he?"

"Sakura—"

"Itachi reduced my sensei into this state, is targeting Naruto, and now Sasuke-kun is going after him! That person is hurting my team! Tell me who he is!" Sakura shouted, feeling the irritation she'd had all morning growing rapidly into annoyance.

Kurenai's eyes widened. Never at any point had Sakura ever raised her voice at the woman, not even while she was more or less emotionally torturing her.

"Itachi…he's the one responsible for the Uchiha massacre…"

What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone.

"Then…then Itachi is the person Sasuke-kun wants to kill! But if he was powerful enough to wipe out the entirety of the Uchiha clan, then Sasuke-kun isn't ready yet! And if someone that strong is after Naruto…!"

Sakura was out the door in an instant, racing down the hall as fast as her legs could take her.

"If Itachi's after Naruto, then that's who Sasuke's gonna be tracking. So if it's Naruto…Ichiraku's first!"

Sakura sprinted to Ichiraku's pushing back the flap.

"Teuchi-san! Have you seen Naruto at all today?!"

"Sakura-chan? Is everything alright with Naruto? Sasuke stopped in here just a few minutes ago asking the same thing."

"A few minutes ago? There's a chance I could still catch up to him…although maybe not given how fast Sasuke-kun is…"

"I'm sorry, I can't explain right now. What did you tell him?!"

"Naruto and Jiraya-sama both had ramen here and then headed off to a nearby town with a pleasure district…"

"Pleasure district?…This Jiraya-sama must be the super pervy sage Naruto mentioned training with!"

"Good and unfortunate thing we've done enough odd jobs around to have overheard enough pervs talking about that place…we actually know where to go…"

"Thank you, sir! Sorry for bothering you!" Sakura shouted, already out the stand and sprinting off in the direction of the town.

---

When Sakura reached the town, she skidded to a stop, scanning the buildings around her.

"Their first priority would be to find an inn…but which one? There are so many! And there's too many people…I'm not like Ino-pig…I'm not a sensory type, so I can't pick out their location in this kind of environment…"

Sakura grit her teeth in frustration, her annoyance mounting.

"Going inn by inn will take too long, but what other choice do I have?"

Sakura leapt into the street and made her way into the first Inn she saw, approaching the desk clerk.

"Excuse me, did a man by the name of Jiraya check in here? He had a twelve year old blond kid with him?"

The clerk looked at her with a bored expression. "You're the second kid to come in here asking that…" He scanned her briefly, tilting his head. "Aren't you a bit young to be in an area like this? This place isn't really for little girls…unless you're looking for work…Some guys are into it I guess, but not ones you should be anywhere near. I'd try doing something else, at least until you're older. "

"Thanks for the unsolicited advice but that's not why I'm here! I'm trying to find a friend, so what did you tell the first kid?" Sakura ground out, her fist clenching.

"Does this asshole think I'm here as a prostitute?! The hell does he take me for?!"

The clerk shrugged. "I told him that there was a big white haired dude with a dopey faced blond kid checked in on the third floor. Most people don't tend to give real names when they check in to this kinda town."

"The third floor?! Which room?"

"302, but that kid came running out of here not long after."

Sakura twitched. Her annoyance bubbling up in her.

"Thanks for wasting my time!" She snapped, sprinting out of the Inn.

"One down, at least seven more to go…"

Much to Sakura's chagrin, the next two Inns she checked were not only lacking a Naruto and Sasuke, but the clerks kept assuming she was there to become a prostitute and offering her unsolicited life advice. She finally got lucky at the third Inn, where she was directed towards Naruto and Jiraya's room. She sprinted away before the clerk had the chance to offer her his opinion on her presumed occupation.

She tore down the hall, but skidded to a stop when she heard voices around the corner.

"Who is that kid, Itachi?"

"…He's…my brother."

"That's funny, cuz the whole Uchiha clan was wiped out, the way I heard it…by you!"

Sakura froze.

"Itachi…Itachi is Sasuke-kun's brother?!"

What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone.

"Sasuke-kun wants to kill his own brother…Sasuke-kun's brother was the one who massacred his entire clan…"

…That night…I was crying…

"The one who made Sasuke-kun cry…his own brother…"

I've lost everything once before…I don't ever…want to watch those precious to me die in front of me again…

"He…his brother…Uchiha Itachi murdered Sasuke-kun's family in front of him! How could he do that?! How could someone kill their own family like that and mentally scar his brother for life?! Sasuke-kun…no wonder he was so slow to trust us…he's already been betrayed once by his own flesh and blood! He didn't just have to go through the pain of the loss, there was the pain of betrayal on top of it!"

She was split between her heart going out to Sasuke, and ever growing anger at Itachi.

"…Just as you told me to, I've resented and hated you…and lived solely…to kill you!"

Sasuke's voice and the sound of a thousand birds chirping broke Sakura out of her thoughts. There was the sound of splintering wood and stone, along with Sasuke's roar as he charged at Itachi with his attack, followed by a loud crash and a much fainter crackling.

"You…!"

"You're in the way…"

Sasuke's scream of pain jarred Sakura into action.

---

"Sasuke!" Naruto called in concern. He had to do something! He quickly started summoning the nine-tails chakra, but the shark faced man swung his sword.

"Too slow!" The man growled. Naruto's eyes widened. He couldn't feel his chakra!

"What's going on?!"

"My samehada cuts through and devours chakra!" The man explained holding up his sword.

Sasuke was on his knees, his right arm supporting him, his broken left wrist held to his chest. Itachi loomed over him, Naruto was behind Itachi, and the shark faced man wearing the same robes as his brother was a few paces to Sasuke's right. A blur of pink and red appeared to his left.

"Sasuke-kun, let me see it."

For a millisecond, her voice washed over him like a soothing balm. Sakura was so good at first aid and medicines, and she was so caring and gentle, that she made pain easier to deal with. And then the reality of the situation hit him hard. Sakura was here. In the same place as Itachi. That was bad for so many reasons…Itachi had taken away everyone dear to him once, and now the two people he cared about most in the world were there for him to take away. Again. And he would, because that's what Itachi did. He was already targeting Naruto for some reason. But it wasn't just that…if Itachi used the tsukuyomi on Sakura, it would definitely activate her curse…she was already so raw from losing her mother, it had only been a week since the funeral. If Itachi did to her what he had done to him the night of the Massacre…if he forced her to watch her mother die repeatedly, the way he'd forced Sasuke to watch him kill their mother and father…He couldn't let Sakura go through that!

Sakura completely ignored the two black cloaked figures staring at her in confusion and mild surprise. Her chakra was so small, non-threatening, and insignificant next to Naruto's and Sasuke's that they hadn't even really noticed her. She gently took Sasuke's arm, examining his broken wrist.

"For first aid on a broken wrist, you need to reset the bone, and support it with a splint to keep it straight."

She pulled out her two dullest kunai and quickly wrapped the blades enough so that it wouldn't break skin.

"What are you doing here?! You need to get out of here!" Sasuke said, panic lacing his voice as he stared unblinkingly at her.

Sakura ignored him. "I need to reset the bone. This'll hurt Sasuke-kun."

"Sakura, you—" his own cry of pain cut him off as Sakura snapped the bone back into place, sandwiching his wrist between her two wrapped kunai and securing them in place with bandages.

"There. That should do til we can get you to a hospital."

"Sakura, get away from here!" Sasuke hissed.

Itachi observed the interaction closely, with well veiled interest. Sasuke clearly cared for this girl deeply, enough to panic at the thought of her in danger. Why? She was certainly pretty, but Sasuke had always received a lot of attention from the female population, even as a small child. And he'd never been remotely interested before. So what had made this girl so special to him? It made sense for him to bond with Naruto, as two lonely boys…but this girl? She was either very brave or very stupid to just run into a situation like this and kneel down to perform first aid while completely ignoring an enemy.

"I'm with the bastard on this one, Sakura-chan! Get out of here and get help! These guys are somethin else!"

The anger she'd been holding back to take care of Sasuke boiled over at the fear in Naruto's voice. Her eyes narrowed into a frigid, hard, glare trained solely on the shark faced man.

"Oh, I don't know about that." She muttered, rising to her feet. "If it takes two grown men to catch one twelve year old genin, how tough could they be?" Her voice was cold and detached, not at all matching the heat of the anger rising up in her gut. A piece of her was well aware that this was crazy. She was being crazy. But her emotions seemed to have taken control of her actions, not her logic. And the primary emotion driving her was anger.

Naruto paled, his jaw dropping.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sasuke hissed.

The two akatsuki members stared at the little girl in shock. Itachi's eye narrowed with interest. So she really was stupid…He never would have thought his brother would go for someone so dumb. What could Sasuke have possibly connected to with this girl?

The shark man burst out laughing. "You're a ballsy one, huh? You think that's some regular twelve year old genin? That kid's carrying a monster inside him! We're doing you a favor taking him off your hands."

Naruto felt his stomach drop. He'd never gotten the chance to tell Sakura about the nine-tails after the chunin exams. This was definitely not how he wanted to tell her…would she be scared of him now that she knew? Would she hate him? She'd said she wouldn't but she didn't know back then…now that she knew would she…

"Just like Gaara-kun…"

"Maybe a young brat like you doesn't know about it, but he's the vessel carrying the nine tailed demon fox inside him."

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened. That had to be related to Naruto's insane growth…

"The nine-tailed demon fox?…I read about that attack. The fourth Hokage died during that attack…so, they stopped it by putting it in Naruto?…That's why he was always alone. That's why the villagers always looked at him so distrustfully…they blamed him for the attack even though it wasn't his fault!…Just like me and my dad…"

"So? That's not Naruto's fault, and it doesn't give you two cult freaks the right to take him!" She was so angry. Angry at the people who put the monster in Naruto in the first place. Angry at these robed assholes who thought that gave them the right to take him. Angry that people had caused her teammates so much pain…Angry that once again, people were trying to take away those she loved.

"…S…Sakura-chan…" Naruto stared at her with wide blue eyes. She really didn't hate him! She wasn't scared of him! She was actually even defending him, standing up to two terrifying enemies for so much as thinking of him as such…

"You haven't acknowledged me at all." Itachi murmured. At first he'd thought she might have been just that stupid as to ignore an enemy standing so close to her, but she'd phrased every answer in plurals. She was aware of him, which meant she was actively choosing not to acknowledge him. So why hadn't she?

"Acknowledgement is a sign of respect. I'll respect that gilled monstrosity as my enemy, but you…I have no respect for someone who murders their entire clan and psychologically tortures their younger brother by making him watch!" Sakura was shaking with anger, her fists balled tightly.

"That's of no concern to you." Itachi answered evenly, his eyes narrowed on the girl. Had his brother told this girl about the tsukuyomi? Had he opened up to this girl that much? No. It couldn't be. As a child Sasuke had only ever been open with and trusting towards his family. When he'd killed everyone and betrayed him, it would have closed him off too much to reveal that information to anyone…so how did this girl know? Had she figured it out? That was impossible…she couldn't know of the sharingan's full capabilities…

"Actually it is. Sasuke-kun is my teammate…my family. He and Naruto both are. That makes their pain my concern!"

That was an abnormally empathetic and mature statement for a thirteen year old girl. Was this why Sasuke liked her? He needed more information.

Sakura sensed Itachi move behind her, and finally turned to look at him, but found herself staring at the Uchiha fan on Sasuke's back as he pulled her behind him.

Sasuke glared at Itachi with even more hatred than before. Sakura's words had driven home just how horrific Itachi's actions had been. He'd never put the word 'torture' to it, but that's what his brother had done…he'd not only murdered everyone in their clan, he'd tortured Sasuke…he'd made him watch over and over and over again. The big brother he'd trusted more than anyone else, loved more than anyone else…he'd tortured him.

If Sasuke had been thinking clearly, he might have wondered how Sakura seemed to know that he had witnessed the deaths of his family members, then he would have chalked it up to Sakura's intelligence and attention to detail, catching something he hadn't even meant to let slip. But Sasuke wasn't thinking clearly. The only thing on his mind was what Itachi had done, and what he had the chance to currently do.

Naruto's teeth clenched. This was getting bad! He needed to do something fast! The shark guy had done something weird to his chakra but maybe he could summon more. He quickly thrust his hands into a seal, focusing hard. The shark man glanced back at him and snorted.

"We don't need you whipping out anymore jutsu…forget the legs. Maybe I should start with those arms."

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut desperately trying—and failing to summon his chakra. The shark man raised his sword. Itachi glanced over apathetically, Naruto was the mission after all.

A toad suddenly popped in front of Naruto, catching the sword on its forearms.

"You don't know me at all. You should have done your homework. The toad sage Jiraya falls victim to no woman's charm. Beauties drop for me like blossoms in a storm!" A large man with wild white hair smirked before shouting. "A man like me isn't wired to just blindly follow a woman like a dog! When you get to my level, the women are the ones who writhe at my charm!"

"Wow…he really is a perv…"

Everyone stared at the white haired man for a second, completely disbelieving, except Sasuke, whose glare never left Itachi.

"Yeah, right! You're the one who got excited when a woman winked at you! This is no time to be acting so high and mighty, Pervy Sage!" Naruto shouted.

"Ugh! I really wish you wouldn't call me that in front of other people!"

"We've got worse things to worry about than what these guys think of you! Get on with it Pervy Sage!"

Naruto glanced at the woman slung over Jiraya's shoulder in confusion.

The shark man cackled. "Aah, Jiraya-sama, touted as one of the legendary three great shinobi. No matter how much of an unrivaled woman-chaser you are, I didn't think our delay tactic would succeed that easily, bu—"

"What, you even know Pervy Sage's true identity?!" Naruto shouted in exasperation. Just who were these guys?!

"Er…that's not really my true identity…" Jiraya muttered, he really did wish this kid would stop calling him that…"

"It seems you've undone the genjutsu we placed on that woman." Itachi said, his focus now fully on Jiraya.

Jiraya carefully set the woman down, leaning her up against that wall. "Placing a sharingan enhanced genjutsu on a woman to separate me from Naruto…what kind of coward would do something like that?"

Naruto's eyes went wide. They wanted to separate him from Pervy Sage? But why?

"So why exactly are you after Naruto?"

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "…Now I know how Kakashi knew. I see…so you were the source of his information. To take Naruto with us is the supreme order given unto us by the Akatsuki."

"So he was definitely the one responsible for hurting Kakashi-sensei…Akatsuki…that must be the name of the cult or whatever these two are in—the robes must be like their uniform or something. And they're trying to take Naruto with them, so that means alive…why? What do they want with him?"

He's the vessel carrying the nine tailed demon fox inside him.

"Because of the nine-tailed demon fox, right? What do you want with it? To control it? Turn it into a weapon?" She asked, a sharp, demanding edge to her tone. She was so so tired of people trying to take away her teammates. Ororchimaru was after Sasuke for his sharingan. This Akatsuki cult was after Naruto for the nine-tails…and she was so sick of it all.

"How dare they come after my teammates!"

All eyes shot to her.

Itachi studied her cautiously. So the girl wasn't stupid after all. She must have deduced their motive from Kisame mentioning it earlier…She wasn't entirely right, but she wasn't far off. And she'd been resourceful enough to wrap kunai and use them as a splint for his brother. So it wasn't stupidity, but recklessness. Smart and reckless made for an interesting and unusual combination. And a dangerous one, for her.

Jiraya glanced over at Naruto. "Hey kid, who's the girl?" In their whole time training together, Naruto had mentioned Sasuke frequently, and he'd mentioned having to beat Hyuga Neji for Hinata…was this Hinata? He'd been under the impression Hinata was a Hyuga, which this girl definitely didn't appear to be.

"S…Sakura-chan." So these people wanted him for the nine-tails? But how was that possible?! The nine-tails was sealed in him…did they know someway to unseal it? But if they were just gonna turn around and use it as a weapon, he couldn't let them have it, no matter how much he wanted to be rid of the fox demon!…But how had they even known in the first place? And what the hell was the Akatsuki?!

Jiraya's brow furrowed. Sakura…he'd heard that name before when Kakashi had mentioned who team 7 consisted of. But he didn't have any information past her name. So…apparently Sakura was very smart.

"Well, in that case…" Jiraya's eyes darkened, his expression turning serious. "Sorry, can't give you Naruto."

"Really…" Itachi sighed. Nothing ever did seem to go the easy way…

"Fine, just as well…I'll take care of the two of you right here!"

"…Stay out of this…" Sasuke cut in darkly. His eyes had never once left Itachi, and when his older brother had looked at Sakura, he'd felt everything in him coil, preparing to strike. Itachi needed to be taken care of, and it would be by his hand only. "…The only one who'll do any eliminating is me!"

"Go away…I have absolutely no interest in you!" Itachi said coldly, slamming his foot into Sasuke's stomach hard and sending him flying into the wall.

"Sasuke!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

They both made to run towards him but Sasuke's harsh voice stopped them.

"Stay out of it you two! Don't butt in! This is my fight!" Sasuke shouted, making them both jerk to a stop.

Sakura's fists tightened. She was so so angry at Itachi for the way he'd practically ignored Sasuke this whole time, for kicking him like he was nothing but a piece of garbage in his way. For hurting him again and again and again.

Itachi gave his brother an indifferent glance…with his wrist broken, he shouldn't be able to weave any signs…

Jiraya watched Itachi walk slowly closer to Sasuke with a serious face. Revenge, huh? He knew how badly that story ended.

"Your mine!" Sasuke screamed at Itachi, but it was cut off by his own grunt of pain as Itachi slammed his fist into Sasuke's stomach. Itachi's assault continued, elbowing him in the back, kneeing him in the chin, slamming his fist into his stomach, all of his movements so fast, precise and hard. It was almost an out of body experience for Sasuke, as his brother beat him so severely with practically no effort. W…Why? He'd been training so hard…what was this gap that didn't seem to have shrunk at all, since that day? Why couldn't he do any damage at all? Why wasn't he strong enough yet?! What had he been doing all this time?!

He gasped, feeling his air supply cut off as his brother slammed him against the wall by his neck, choking him. What in the world…Itachi's eyes were closed, but when they opened, Sasuke found himself in a world of black and white, and instantly he started to panic. He remembered this world…

"…you are weak…" He couldn't see Itachi anywhere. There was nothing but darkness. "…For the next 24 hours, relive that day." His parents were knelt in front of Itachi, who had his sword raised. Sasuke's eyes widened in horror as he watched the blade swing down on his parents…just like that night.

Sasuke let out a horribly pained scream.

"Stop! That's enough!" Naruto shouted at the older Uchiha, taking a step forward, but Sakura beat him to it.

Sakura couldn't take it. Once again, her logic no longer drove her body, her emotions had completely taken over. She sprinted at Itachi, grabbing and digging her fingers into his wrist in an attempt to force him to release Sasuke.

He hadn't been expecting the feel of nails digging into his skin, and turned his eyes towards the green eyed girl glaring up at him, inadvertently catching her in the genjutsu…he really hadn't intended too, but he was still in the middle of using it on Sasuke when she had wrenched his attention to her. It wasn't a good idea, using these eyes so many times in one day, but since she'd already been caught, he may as well use this opportunity to try and learn more about her connection to his brother. So he settled on pulling up her strongest recent memory.

---

Sakura's eyes went wide as she was suddenly surrounded by darkness, though Itachi seemed to be next to her, outlined in white.

"What the hell is this? Genjutsu?! It doesn't feel like a normal one though…"

"Release!" Nothing changed.

She blinked and found herself staring at her apartment building. Instinctively she knew what she was about to see, and her breathing grew ragged.

"Release!" She tried again, but once again failed…she couldn't break out. Her fists tightened.

"How dare he…"

The building began to crumble and fall.

"How dare he make me watch this…"

Then she was among the rubble staring down at her mother's visible hand. Her breathing grew more labored, her throat tightening, her body shaking.

"How dare he make me relive this…"

"I'm free now…" She heard a voice whisper all around her.

"HOW DARE HE!"

The dark world around her shattered as her chakra ripped through her body.

---

Itachi reeled back, releasing Sasuke and staring at the girl, blatant disbelief replacing his apathetic expression.

"…That's impossible…" She'd actually broken out of the Tsukuyomi. That simply wasn't possible. And what was all of this chakra? Where had it come from? Her power had seemed so insignificant before he'd barely even registered it.

Jiraya's jaw dropped…Sakura was part of that clan?! He'd only ever heard stories about them and their curse…he'd thought they all died off, not that there was any solid documentation of them really ever having existed in the first place. The Haruno's were more of a scarcely recalled ghost story that most were unfamiliar with. A sobering reminder that as much as ninjas relied on chakra, it was an energy not fully understood and ultimately very dangerous. So Kakashi had himself a revenge bent Uchiha, the nine-tails jinchuriki, and a member of the cursed Haruno clan? Poor guy, what a problem team…Well, he had to do something…

Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand, sending enough chakra to break him out of the genjutsu…not that it mattered, the damage had already been done. She didn't know it, but time moved differently in the nightmare world of the Tsukuyomi, and Sasuke's twenty four hours of reliving the worst day of his life were already up. Sasuke just barely registered the warm tingle of Sakura's chakra before slipping into a coma the same as Kakashi had.

Sakura was furious. Shaking, screaming, and blindingly furious. At everything. At these two Akatsuki lackeys who thought they were within their rights to kidnap Naruto for something he had no control over. At Itachi for what he'd put Sasuke through, how dismissively he'd treated him during this whole encounter, and how he'd dug around in her head, witnessing the darkest parts of herself she hated so much. And though her chakra was making every nerve in her body explode in agony, all she wanted to do was punch Itachi in the face. She lunged at him, taking a wild swing, which he easily evaded, her fist slamming into the wall, causing cracks to form in the stone.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried desperately, fishing through his pockets desperately for her sedative. But he didn't have it on him. He'd left it in his apartment because he hadn't thought she would be here. But he had to do something! She'd said she needed to have the sedative administered quickly and start calming down fast, or else her kekkei genkai would do more damage and might end up killing her!…That shark faced guy's sword…it had cut him off from his chakra—shark man said it absorbed it! Maybe it would do the same for Sakura's and stop the attack! Naruto charged at her, hoping it would make Kisame follow him. He lucked out. As he charged down the hall towards Sakura and Itachi, Kisame did indeed follow at his heels. Now just to make sure he didn't get himself chopped in half in the process…

Itachi watched her, surprised and curious as she screamed in pain, pulling her fist from the wall and turning to face him, trying to come at him again. He'd never seen anything like this before. Her chakra looked like it was tearing her apart…the pain she was in had nothing to do with him, her own energy was doing it to her. She was some how simultaneously weaker and stronger than she had been before. Her tiny fist had left cracks and small fissures running through the stone wall—something he seriously doubted she could do before. Her chakra cracked the floor around her with the force and amount of it she was emitting. But, she was unsteady, her movements uncalculated and wild. He'd gotten the sense from her earlier that she was a very controlled person. There was reason and purpose behind her behavior, choices, and actions. When she'd sprinted into the hall and knelt next to his brother, her movements had been quite fluid and graceful. Now her movements were disjointed and clumsy, telegraphed and easy to read. Nothing was thought through. And with how pained her eyes and screams were, how her muscles spasmed and her chakra shined visibly through her skin, he wouldn't be shocked if it killed her in the next ten minutes. His Tsukuyomi couldn't even cause this level of physical pain.

Naruto hoped he was close enough for this to work. Throwing his hands in the sign for his signature jutsu, he shouted. "Shadow clone—"

"No you don't!" Kisame growled, swinging his sword.

"Ninja art! Toad mouth trap jutsu!" Jiraya called at the same moment, pressing both his hands into the floor.

Naruto tackled Sakura, twisting their positions so she was the one closer to the blade as they slammed into the ground…only, it felt softer than it should have…and squishier.

Unlike when Naruto had tried to summon the nine-tails energy, Sakura's chakra was not completely absorbed…there was just too much of it. It was drastically lessened though. With slightly more control, Sakura pried herself from Naruto and once more charged at Itachi, still embedded with the desperate desire to sink her fist into his face.

Itachi quickly side stepped and backhanded her head into the wall. Despite the additional pain in her head compounding the pain of her chakra reaction, she was able to process that the wall felt…spongier then it should have.

"Too bad Itachi…and Kisame. You truly can't escape me now…" Sakura didn't hear the rest of Jiraya's statement. Itachi's hit had been hard, and her consciousness slowly faded into darkness.

---

Author's note: I know a lot of people think Sasuke's repressed, but I don't think it's possible for the Uchiha to be repressed, since their love/hate thing runs so strong. I don't think he's outwardly expressive, but I think he feels his feelings-even if he has no clue what those feelings are. Inner Sakura on the other hand canonically is supposed to be what Sakura wishes she could say or really thinks/feels. And I one hundred percent believe that canon Sakura would be the type to invalidate her own emotions when comparing her experiences to her teammates. And I think Sasuke now has a deep enough bond with Sakura, understanding of what she's dealing with and appreciation for the differences of their situation that he would be able to understand and forgive her relief. She hasn't forgiven or stopped blaming her self yet, but know that Sasuke doesn't see it that way will give her the permission to not see it that way either. I also was trying really hard not to make Sasuke too hypocritical, since he does blame himself for not being strong enough to save his parents and all that, but I think he'd chalk it up to situational difference and it's pretty easy to give advice but not follow it yourself, so oh well.

I also think once Sakura starts allowing herself to feel, a lot of it would be expressed as anger. In the manga she does have a temper and the way I've written Inner Sakura is that she's 90% anger, frustration, and annoyance. But because of that, I think Sakura's threshold for anger is really high. So she feels anger frequently, but because of that it takes a lot of it to set off her kekkei genkai. Like she gets really angry, but it needs to be pushed to fury level to trigger her.

I feel like Sasuke probably played something like TenTen's theme (my favorite) and Sakura changes it to Sadness and Sorrow-that's what I imagined she danced to. Taylor Davis has a lovely rendition on Spotify if you're interested.

In Sasuke's first confrontation with Itachi canonically, Itachi is very dismissive and doesn't seem to care or be interested in Sasuke's presence in the slightest-which I didn't change, but I think his internal monologue would have been different, and I think he would have been very interested in Sasuke's interactions with both his teammates and how they changed Sasuke's focus and temperament. I don't think he was scared or unable to take Sakura while her chakra reacted, just curious. But she had to be there. This was a big inciting incident in the story and it annoys me that Sakura wasn't there for it and kept out of it entirely when the rest of team 7 had a run in with Itachi.

Thank you so so much for all the positive feedback! The reviews really mean a lot to me and I'm both happy some people have been able to connect and empathize enough with my Sakura to cry for her. Please keep it up because your comments are really helpful motivation for me!

Thank you so much for reading this far! :)