A/N: I had hoped to be able to post this for christmas of new years, but that clearly didn't happen. Working retail during the holiday season blows.

"Inner Sakura..."

"Sakura's thoughts..."

memory...

Standard disclaimers apply.


Hours stopped existing, as far as Sakura was concerned. Time was measured in patients and their recovery. The whole medical staff were giving their all to heal as many as they could, but the number of injured felt endless. On top of that, Sakura was now the de facto leader, with Tsunade comatose, Shizune severely injured, and the shinobi who managed to come out unscathed pressuring for quicker healing so they could start work on rebuilding and have more bodies on hand for defense. All of the hardest cases fell to Sakura, including Kakashi, Shizune, Tsunade, Choza, and several others. There were very few Sakura had managed to heal in full with the network healing. The most she'd been able to manage at the time was stabilizing and bringing everyone out of critical, but further healing was still required and it was draining. She hadn't slept more than two hours a night since the attack, and didn't take breaks during the day, eating in the minutes of walking between one patient and the next. Her chakra was continuously running near empty, and she was popping at least a half a food pill a day if not a whole one, even though she knew the risk of crashing that came with them.

On the bright side, one of the other medics had healed Ikehara almost fully, and he quickly set up making all sorts of medicines, tonics and balms to aid with the healing. They were running low on Sakura's ointment fairly quickly so his help was invaluable. And he kept giving Sakura energy tonics, chakra recovery teas, and his own crafted food pills that were nutrient dense with lower crash risks.

Her first big project had been fully healing Kakashi, as she was being pressured from the likes of Inoichi, Shikaku, and Shikamaru to do. She healed him to sub-par but functional condition within two days, a feat that the other medics whispered about, as it would have required a week if not longer for them to accomplish. Sakura wondered if that would have been the better call though, because it had significantly burned through her chakra, that she still had yet to fully recover from due to her lack of time to sleep.

Her next task had been fully healing Shizune, as the medics worried that they needed more support. She didn't have enough chakra to heal Shizune in the two days she had for Kakashi, and it took something closer to five days before her senpai was well enough to move on her own. Being severely weakened and still in recovery, she took over the task of caring for Tsunade, which was both personal and practical as the two were staying in the same tent. As the natural healing process took over, she also ventured out to help with some of the smaller cases. When she'd first opened her eyes to an exhausted and sweating Sakura, she'd hugged her tightly, and told her how proud she was of her, and how proud Tsunade would be, before promising to do what she could to lighten Sakura's load—which wasn't much at the time.

So when Shizune finally had grown strong enough to handle mid level cases the first thing she did was force Sakura to take a break. Days still did exist her for her, and by her count, Sakura had been going non-stop for the past two and a half weeks.

She was shocked to discover how organized it was. Patients were grouped by severity of injury, colored triage flags delineating the sections. Green and yellow were the most occupied, while there were shockingly and blessedly few patients occupying the red. Shizune had no doubt it was Sakura who had whittled that number down so efficiently. Wood boards at the front of each zone had all the patient names and tent locations recorded in ink matching the zone color. The red zone's board had many of those names crossed out in black ink, and further study could find them on the yellow or even green zones' boards. There was also a black zone, where they were placing the dead, and a very quick study there revealed that the corpses had been treated with chakra to hold off decay and bacteria growth—no doubt this was also Sakura's doing, as Shizune recalled explaining the procedure to her in depth during the autopsy.

She walked into the yellow zone in time to hear a medic shout for Sakura.

"What happened?" The girl asked with calm urgency, settling next to the medic.

"Their oxygenation's plummeting! I—my chakra was…it's my fault. I'm so tired I lost focus. I'm so sorry."

The only indication of annoyance that Sakura gave was the slight tightening in her jaw. When she spoke, her tone was just the same as before, calm but stern. "It's fine. I'll handle it. Go get some rest."

"But you—"

"I'll need you back here in five hours."

"I…I understand." The medic rose, allowing Sakura full access to the patient. Sakura placed her hands on his chest, a green glow emitting from them, fixing whatever damage the medic's slipped chakra control had caused. When Sakura pulled away, the man's chest rose and fell evenly, his color normalizing. Sakura remained kneeling next to him for a moment, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

She jolted at the feel of a hand on her shoulder. Preparing herself for another crisis, she turned to see Shizune smiling down at her, her eyes concerned.

"Senpai! What's wrong? Is Shishou ok? Are you?"

"Everything's fine Sakura-chan. Tsunade-sama's stable, and I'm well enough to handle things here for a little while. You go take a break. I'll call you if there's a red zone crisis, but I can cover things here for a bit."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm. You need to rest too. Subsiding on chakra pills is dangerous."

"It's only been a half…"

"Sakura-chan."

"Sometimes a whole…Okay. Call me if there's an emergency."

"I will. Get some sleep."

Sakura smiled and walked out of the tent, before pointedly not going to get some sleep. Instead she headed for the village.

The wreckage was devastating, but Yamato had luckily been away on a mission over the course of the Pain attack, and his return proved invaluable to the rebuilding efforts. The camp had become a fusion of tents and small wood cabins with wood benches littering the space. And the rebuilding efforts for the village proper were going much faster thanks to his wood release. Sakura walked through streets, some of which were already lined with wooden buildings and free from debris. It had been weighing on her for some time that her family picture, and the Uchiha family picture were still buried.

She stopped in front of what used to be their apartment, now a pile of stone and wood. She knew she had to be careful about causing further slides from potentially unstable wreckage, so she stepped with care, testing each step and beam before venturing further or moving anything.

It took a lot of digging, but she finally unearthed the picture of her family, seven of her medical books, a cracked jar of her ointment, a torn shirt and two skirts that miraculously survived unscathed, as well as one of the Uchiha's family pictures, and Sasuke's old dinosaur plushie. She started down at the doll, torn in some places as a new thought occurred to her. The Uchiha district was also in shambles. Before she could even think about it much, her feet carried her to the ruined district.

She headed for the wreckage of the main house and again began her careful digging, excavating Sasuke's old diary, a torn kimono which she thought may have belonged to Mikoto, a teapot, and a few books—some of which she was sure were Itachi's.

Sakura returned to camp with a box of the items and stashed them in the tent she barely used, that she shared with Ino and TenTen. After a quick wash in a nearby river, and changing into one of the undamaged skirts she'd unearthed, she went to visit Tsunade, fully intending to fall asleep next to her master after checking her over.

She still looked old, much older than her age should have her looking. This was the effect of the hundred healings, the double edged sword Tsunade had warned her about. The cells of the body could only divide so many times, and the forced rapid reproduction of the cells meant faster aging for the body. Sakura hated seeing her so frail looking.

"Shishou…I wish I could give you some of my chakra but…it's been rough here. I can't spare any…" Sakura pulled her knees to her chest, leaning lightly against the tent wall, and set her face in her arms, staring at her mentor. "I really wish you were here, Shishou. Please wake up soon."

She closed her eyes, her breathing slowing. Just when she was about to drift off, the tent flap opened, letting light in.

"You up yet, grandma—oh…sorry, Sakura-chan…" Naruto's volume dramatically reduced over the course of his sentence. "I just…" His face dropped sadly, making a pang smack through Sakura's heart.

"Wanna talk outside?" She asked softly, smiling at him.

He glanced up at her, before his eyes fell on Tsunade's wrinkled, sleeping face. After a breath, he nodded.


Sakura and Naruto sat on one of the wood benches looking out at the bustling camp.

"There's so much I want to tell Granny Tsunade." He said, his voice rough and quiet. So unlike the typical ball of hyperactivity he normally was.

"It's okay. Lady Tsunade will wake up soon! I mean she's really strong and she's the Hokage! Don't worry!" She said brightly, forcing energy she didn't have into her voice.

"Why do I have to be the one encouraging him? I'm the one that needs cheering up…Naruto."

Before Naruto could respond a gruff voice called out to them.

"Super long time no see Naruto! Sakura!"

"You're…" Sakura recognized Tazuna the bridge builder immediately, but it took a second for her to process that the boy next to him was Inari. He'd grown a lot, his hair longer and shaggier, his body having replaced his childish chub with lean muscle.

"Inari and old man Tazuna!" Naruto cried, jumping up in excitement. "Inari…you've grown up! And you've gotten even older, old man."

"Aw, now…I'm a carpenter now. I accepted Konoha's commission and here we are!" Tazuna explained. "Inari-kun here's my apprentice now."

"We figured we'd come say hi to you all while we were here!" Inari added brightly before his gaze landed on Sakura. "Woah! I didn't think it was possible, but you're even prettier than before, Sakura-nee-chan!"

"Ahh, really?" Sakura flushed a little, smiling, and tangling her fingers in the hair at the back of her head. She didn't feel all that pretty—she felt like a zombie.

Tazuna's hand rested on top of Inari's head. "Don't let Ageha-chan hear you say that." He teased, making Inari flush.

"Please, Sakura-nee-chan is Aa-chan's favorite person, even more than me. She'd be angry if I didn't tell her how pretty she is." Inari dismissed.

"So Ageha-chan's doing well?" Sakura asked, feeling her heart lift a little.

"Mhm!" Inari grinned, scratching the back of his head in a very Naruto-like gesture. "You inspired her nee-chan. Aa-chan's studying to be an herbalist, and even has a whole garden going at our house."

"She's training to be an herbalist? That's amazing! Oh—I actually just found one of my books on medicinal herbs. Can you give it to her for me?"

"Really? You don't have to do that! You've already done a ton for us. That's why we're here. This time it's our turn to repay you!"

"Thanks Inari!" Naruto beamed.

"He's right. I'm so sorry for having embroiled you all in that Gato incident. But thanks to you all, the Land of Waves is very prosperous now." Tazuna said, bowing.

"That's awesome!" Naruto cheered.

"It is!" Sakura agreed. "But you can still give her that book. I've already read it, and I want to help her with her studies. I think it's great that she wants to be an herbalist."

"Well that'll make Aa-chan's year." Inari finally gave in.

"So whatdya say, Sakura? Wanna join the construction crew?" Tazuna half-teased, recalling how helpful she was on the bridge construction.

"Uhh…" She let out a tired sigh. "I wish I could help, but I'm a full-fledged medic now, and there's a lot of patients that need tending too."

"Well that's unsurprising." Tazuna nodded in approval. He could have told her that should have been her path from the second she'd knelt next to Kakashi when he'd been incapacitated in their home. Speaking of Kakashi…

"Oh?! You're here already?" Kakashi asked, sauntering up to them, his gait slightly uneven as he was still recovering from some of his injuries Sakura had left to heal on their own.

"Aah! Kakashi! Konoha's in crisis so we rushed over!"

"Of course." Kakashi acknowledged, drawing up to them.

"Hm?" Tazuna hummed looking around. The picture wasn't complete yet.

"What is it? If there's something you need, I can have someone get it for you." Kakashi offered.

"Where's Sasuke? I'd like to talk to him too."

"Uh…" Kakashi trailed off, trying to figure out what to say.

Naruto's face grew serious, glancing at Sakura.

She didn't have it in her to front. She was too exhausted, too sad about her surrogate mother being in a coma, too sad that the boy she loved was missing, stolen by the Akatsuki. There was no hiding it. She couldn't even bring herself to look at them.

Inari and Tazuna looked between the three of them confused.

"W-Well…Sasuke's…Er…um…" Kakashi mumbled trying to figure out what to say.

Naruto watched Sakura's expression. He realized a minute after he said it that it may have been a bit unfair to mope about Tsunade in front of Sakura, and expect her to comfort him. She'd delivered, but she had to be just as upset as he was, maybe more. After all, she spent two years training under her. He'd barely seen Sakura since the moment she hugged him after the attack. He'd seen her for less than half a second when he'd gone to visit Hinata and see how she was healing. Sakura had been kneeling next to her at the time, healing her, but as Naruto approached, she flashed him a quick smile, whispered something to Hinata and walked off to the next patient in need. And that was pretty much it. After that, he only really saw her from afar as she headed from zone to zone in the med-camp. Upon closer examination, she looked profoundly exhausted as well. Was he really that oblivious that he hadn't been able to see through her bracing comfort earlier? Or had she gotten scarily better at lying and hiding than she'd been before—truly frightening considering how good at it she had been already. And if that was the case, the fact that the pain was so clearly painted on her face now was a testament to how badly she must be hurting. This time he'd cheer her up. He'd take on the responsibility of hiding their pain and the situation and presenting something optimistic and hopeful. It shouldn't always be on her. She shouldn't have to be the one carrying it all. He'd take it from now on.

"Sasuke's…not around right now. We kinda had a fight and he left the village. But don't worry! I'll go get him. You can say hello to him when we get back! I'm sure Sasuke would be really glad to see you, right Sakura-chan?" Naruto said brightly, scratching the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"Y-yeah." Sakura agreed uncomfortably.

"What…you guys get tangled up in a love triangle or something?" Tazuna asked, eying Sakura. He distinctly remembered how she cried over Sasuke, and the way the boy looked at her when he awoke. Naruto would be better off giving up. "Hate to break it to you kid, but I think you might lose this one."

"Aw shucks, no way!" Naruto protested, though it was unclear what he was protesting—the statement of Sasuke having left because of a love triangle, or the statement that he was losing Sakura to Sasuke. Either way, his cheerful, casual response and normal behavior around the topic made Sakura feel hopeful.

"Thank you Naruto."

"Ah well, we better get back to work." Tazuna said, glancing over at the construction zone. "We'll see you lot later!" He added with a wave.

"I'll stop by your tent to grab that book from you a bit later, Nee-chan! See you later Naruto-nii-chan!" Inari called, waving as the two walked away.

Sakura and Naruto watched them go, waving. But the mention of Sasuke had made Naruto realize something as he slowly lowered his hand. It hit him for the first time, that there was nothing he could have done for Sasuke back then, during their battle at the Vally of the End.

"Now I finally understand how Sasuke feels…" Naruto murmured, thinking of Jiraya, and how badly he wanted to kill Pain for what he'd done. "…What vengeance is about."

Sakura glanced at Kakashi, her eyes filled with concern, only to see him already looking back at her. Their words from their conversation after Naruto first left echoed through her memory.

I don't understand revenge…

He always did understand Sasuke-kun in a way I couldn't…do you think he gets it?

"Revenge? No. Not at the moment. But he could. Potentially. He lives for a dream, but he's also never had a family, so losing anyone he's formed a strong bond with might bring about the desire for it…

"I hope Naruto never has to feel the need for revenge…I hope he never gets overwhelmed by darkness."

"Then you'll just have to continue being there for him."

The worst had come to pass. Naruto had lost a precious bond, and tasted the need for revenge. She needed to be there for him now, to make sure it didn't consume him…

"That's also probably why he's so sad about Shishou…another bond that feels lost…but I don't know how I'm gonna be there for him as much as he needs, when I have so many patients who need me…"

"I thought I knew how Sasuke felt, what he was going through…but I didn't. Whatever I said to Sasuke in the Vally of the End, he wasn't going to…"

"Naruto…"

"You got that before though…huh, Sakura-chan?"

She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I don't understand revenge. Even still. Even after all this…There's too much damage and injury. I'm more worried about fixing it, then punishing those responsible. I don't understand Sasuke-kun's desire for revenge. Or yours. But I think…for Sasuke-kun, he must have felt like there was no other options. Itachi posed a threat to you, to Kakashi-sensei, to me…for him, fixing the situation at hand, and getting revenge probably seemed like the same choice. I don't think he could fathom any others…but even with that…I still don't understand that feeling or need. I don't understand your need for it either…even after what this attack has done to the village. To Shishou. I'm not sure I ever will get it…But it doesn't mean I'm not here for you. That I'm not willing to try for you. That I don't understand that you are in pain."

Naruto smiled sadly. "That's more than enough for me Sakura-chan…it probably was for Sasuke too. You're smart and kind enough for that level of understanding to be enough…but I think…I think I needed to know exactly what it felt like…I think I needed to understand his pain fully. Without understanding Sasuke's pain, there's no way we could ever laugh together, or even argue together again." Naruto laced his hands behind his head, leaning back slightly with a bright but pained smile. "It's probably going to hurt real bad, but next time I want to have a proper fight with him. And then some day, team 7, including Sasuke, can all laugh together like we used to!"

Sakura and Kakashi both smiled at him. His optimism was overwhelming and contagious.

"There you are! There you are! Hey!" A loud voice barked, making them turn. Kiba and Akamaru had raced up behind them.

"Oh no. Is there an emergency? I knew I shouldn't have left med-camp."

"Kiba! What's the matter?" Sakura asked, somewhere between her worry-prone self and her calm medical persona.

"Listen up…and just stay calm, all right?" Kiba said urgently. "Tsunade-sama has been relieved of her Hokage title!"

All of them froze in shock.

"What…? What the hell is he saying?!"

"The sixth Hokage is apparently some guy named Danzo! I don't know too much, but he's supposed to be some inside guy!" Kiba filled them in.

"Did…did you say Danzo?!" Sakura shouted, her fists balling tightly. She'd met him once. Remembered hating the way he spoke to Tsunade, and then hating him more the more she learned about Sai. He was the head of Root. He was cruel and corrupt and she didn't trust him.

"Danzo, that's…!" Naruto recognized that name from Sai as well. And based on the number he'd done to Sai, Naruto knew he was the last person Naruto wanted leading the village.

"This can't be good…" Kakashi muttered.

"That's not the only shocker! The sixth hokage declared Sasuke a rogue ninja, and issued a decree permitting his disposal!"

Sakura didn't see Naruto's look of shocked fury, because she herself had fully stopped breathing.

"What do you mean?!" Naruto demanded.

"I don't really know either—don't take it out on me! I just thought you should know!" Kiba growled.

"It means that they can't wait until Tsunade-sama recovers, and that's not unreasonable. Also, Sasuke's a rogue shinobi. Standard operating procedure is to erase him. It was only Tsunade-sama's benevolence that was indulging us to settle this privately." Kakashi explained.

"Danzo can't be—Sasuke-kun—WHAT? Why? But Itachi wasn't in the Root's bingo book?! Why give him a pass but not Sasuke-kun?! This guy's such a fucking dirt bag! He can't be the Hokage! But M'Lady—!"

Sakura turned on her heel walking rapidly towards Tsunade's tent, before it occurred to her that Tsunade wasn't awake. Who was she trying to talk to right now anyway? Tsunade? Comatose. Shizune? Powerless, and also in the medical tents hypothetically. Sai? He'd gotten back from the same mission Yamato had been on, but she wasn't sure where he was at the moment…and he was also powerless. Which left Danzo. Not that she knew where he was. She was fairly certain he'd hate her one principle—a clanless civilian-raised apprentice to the fifth Hokage who subscribed to teachings he despised. And she didn't care. She'd been wanting to have a talk with Danzo since learning how badly he'd emotionally mutilated Sai—a violent talk.

"Sakura!" Kakashi called, grabbing her arm to stop her. "Where are you—"

"I'm going to go talk to Danzo!"

"Sakura, wait! Your barging over there won't solve anything." Kakashi said, trying to sound calm and cool. Danzo was not someone he wanted anywhere near Sakura. He was the type to find Sakura's kekkei genkai too big a risk, and order her execution. Either that, or try and use her for some sort of experiment. There was no doubt in his mind Danzo was corrupt enough for that.

"How dare they decide this when Shishou's not even conscious!" Sakura stormed. "And about Sasuke-kun too! I can't just sit here and quietly take them devaluing my mentor after all she sacrificed for Konoha, and threatening Sasuke-kun!" She tore her arm from Kakashi's grasp, again set on marching straight up to Danzo.

Kakashi blinked, a little baffled. Sakura always had a reckless streak when it came to those she loved, but that was usually in combat situations. She'd always been pretty smart about politics, good at reading the situation and maneuvering through the traps and pitfalls. Surely she had to see how dangerous and useless confronting Danzo was? Why was she acting so…thoughtlessly? It was like she hadn't considered anything at all, which was unlike her…

He grabbed her arm again, once again stilling her. Her bicep jumped slightly under his touch, and he could feel her body shaking slightly. Was it rage? Or…it occurred to him that she had been working more than she ever had before. Typically when Sakura overworked herself, it wasn't necessary, she was just hiding from her reality. But this time, no one could say anything against it because they were the ones coming to her, asking her for help. Nearly all the village had injuries running from minor to critical after the attack, civilians and ninja alike, including some of the medics. On top of that, additional injuries came up during reconstruction. Sakura was overworking more than ever, and no one could stop her because it was completely necessary. It occurred to him that this was the first time since even before the attack that he'd seen Sakura not working. Upon closer examination, she was paler than usual, her bright eyes a little glassy, her under eyes shadowed and bagging slightly. Her lips were a little cracked too. Exhaustion and lack of care had to be clouding her judgment.

"I'll go too!" Naruto agreed, turning to join Sakura's march to Danzo as well.

"Calm down, both of you." Kakashi ordered. "Sakura, you know the necessity of staying calm, but Naruto, this is the one time you need to put being cool and collected into practice too."

"How are we supposed to stay cool?!" Naruto demanded. "I'm not letting them go after Sasuke!" He only managed one step, before Kakashi grabbed his arm too, now holding both his students still.

"I said wait! Danzo's already anticipated your exact reaction. So you go see him, then what?"

"We won't be violent! We're just going to ask him to change his decision about Sasuke!" Naruto argued.

"Speak for yourself. I've been wanting to punch that asshole in the face since meeting Sai!" Sakura hissed.

Kakashi let out a deep exhale. "Do not give him any reason to throw you in prison. I guarantee you he's itching to do it."

"I don't care! I'm going!" Sakura and Naruto chorused together.

"W-Whoa, hey…maybe don't—" Kiba muttered awkwardly, wishing he had not been the one to deliver the bad news.

"Naruto, don't forget that you host the nine-tails. Danzo wants to confine you in the village, so any acting up on your part will play right into his hands. And then you won't be able to go look for Sasuke. Don't make a scene right now." He turned seriously to Sakura next. "He's hated Tsunade-sama for a long time, and is probably hoping to take that out on you. If he learns of your curse—if he doesn't know about it already—he will view it as a threat to the village, or worse, a resource, and will take the first excuse he gets to lock you up and mine you for it as well. And that cannot happen, because the medics and all of the patients, including Tsunade-sama, need you right now."

He saw both his students tense, and then deflate a little, knowing he'd succeeded in diffusing them. It was a dirty trick, and emotionally manipulative, but Sakura was so duty bound to her patients that it was the only way to get through to her, and the same was true for Naruto with Sasuke.

"He's right…There are still too many injuries and we're still too spread thin on capable medics…But…I don't know enough about Danzo. First things first, we have to know who we're dealing with to counter him…and the only one who has anything on Danzo is…"

Sakura tore her arm from Kakashi again, again walking away.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi demanded, somewhat desperately. Maybe his manipulation hadn't been as successful as he hoped.

"To find Sai!" Sakura answered determinedly. Oh how he wished she said she was going to get some sleep.

"Good call, Sakura-chan! Let's find out what he knows about this geezer!" Naruto agreed, pulling away from Kakashi to join her.

Kakashi sighed, watching his students walk off. He'd need to keep a close eye on them. They were in a dangerous situation right now.

"They're…not gonna do something stupid right? I mean…Naruto's a given, but Sakura usually…but then she did go with that Akastuski member…" Kiba muttered anxiously, watching his two friends walk away.

"Kiba, do me a favor." Kakashi drawled.

"Yeah?"

"Next time you've got some bad news of that caliber, tell me first, before just blurting it to them."

"Uh…right…sorry."

Kakashi leapt up into the tree line, and began trailing them at a distance.


They caught Sai walking down the forest path, his face blank as ever, but the air around him troubled.

"Sai! We were just looking for you." Sakura called out seriously.

"We want to talk to you." Naruto agreed.

Sai came up to them, wanting to know what they had to say, and having an inclination of what this was about. His stomach turned strangely, the same hesitance he felt before meeting Kakashi was making a reappearance. He would have liked to ask Sakura what the name of that feeling was, but seeing as she was currently part of the cause of it, he didn't think that was a great idea.

"What is it?"

"Please tell us everything you know about Danzo." Sakura stated firmly, her eyes angry with hostility that he could tell wasn't directed at him…was it aimed at Danzo? That was dangerous. He recalled the conversation he'd just left from with the man.

Sai knelt in front of Danzo, who sat on a couch in his tent. He'd been called here rather abruptly and was surprised to discover the news that Danzo had been named Hokage. He…felt something about that, but he wasn't sure what.

"Yes, master?"

"Watch Naruto, and report anything out of the ordinary, immediately, to me." Danzo ordered.

"Yes sir." But he surprised himself by the words that followed. "Um…may I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

Sai knew there was risk to asking, but he couldn't help himself. He had to know. "What are you planning to do with Naruto?"

"Do not Fret. Naruto is the village's hero right now. All of the villagers trust and love him more so than they do me, the Sixth Hokage. If I do something to Naruto, it will affect my position as Hokage. This is a crucial time, pending the jonin's vote of confidence. However, Naruto is also a Jinchuriki, and it is the Hokage's job to keep watch over the Jinchuriki. I will not be as lenient as Princess Tsunade was."

"…Understood."

"Speaking of Princess Tsunade, her apprentice is the kunoichi on Team 7, correct? Haruno Sakura?"

"Yes. She's a skilled medic."

"I imagine she must be given her teacher…Something fascinating happened with her chakra during the attack. Do you know what I'm referring to?"

Sai's expression didn't change. But their moment visiting Kakashi in the hospital came back to him vividly. Naruto and Sakura trusted him not to tell Danzo about her kekkei genkai. He hadn't mentioned a word of it to him. But now he was being asked directly…did he tell the truth, or lie?

"Something fascinating with her chakra? What happened?" Lie.

Danzo eyed him for a long tense moment. "…Yes. I imagine she wouldn't trust you with that sort of thing…Princess Tsunade must have warned her to be wary of you. Keep an eye on her as well. She's almost as dangerous and useful as the jinchuriki."

"…Understood."

"Dismissed."

Sai felt Danzo's eye never leave him as he left.

He was now sure he was being watched. And Naruto and Sakura's sudden interest in Danzo did not bode well for their safety or his own.

"I can't." Sai answered after a long moment. He wanted to help them, but danger aside, it was impossible.

"—Why not?!"

"—Don't tell me your back on his side?!"

Sai glanced around and sighed. He expected this kind of direct questioning in the open from Naruto, but not Sakura. She was usually quicker to pick up on his uncertainties and potential dangers. Clearly she'd heard the news of Danzo's rise to Hokage-ship, so he would have thought she'd be more aware of speaking so directly where all could hear. Maybe the shock overrode her intelligence. Pity. That was one of her saving graces.

"…No. That's not it. I'm literally physically unable to talk about Danzo-sama. Because of this." He opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue black mark on it, made of three thick stacked lines, the line closest to the tip of his tongue broken in the middle.

"What the…What is that?" Naruto gasped.

Sakura felt a fresh wave of fury surge through her.

"That filthy paranoid bastard!"

"That's a curse mark, isn't it?" Sakura asked, her voice dangerously cold.

"Yes, it is. A justu cast by Danzo-sama himself, so if one tries to talk about Danzo-sama, one becomes completely paralyzed unable to speak or move. All of us in the foundation bear one."

He very suddenly felt fingers on his jaw, holding his mouth open. "Let me see." Sakura ordered, her eyes burning like green fire. Once again she found herself between two personas, her positively enraged self, and her medic mode. She studied the black mark carefully, burning its shape into her mind.

"Curse marks are a type of sealing jutsu, but their infamously difficult to remove. The best you can do is place an additional seal on them to try reducing the effects…" Sakura muttered gently shifting his face so she could get a better look. If only the library hadn't been destroyed, she'd be planning how to work studying seal removal into her non-existent free time.

"If this is the way he runs his organization…I really don't want him anywhere near the Hokage position."

Sai blinked, a little bewildered at how quickly Sakura had gone from angry and accusatory, to angry and worried. She stepped back, releasing his jaw, her eyes murderous…not at him, but for him. How strange and…concerning. Sakura had something of an unpredictable streak.

"This is too much, that bastard." Sakura growled.

"Well, Danzo-sama and the foundation are top-secret entities. We've done a lot of clandestine dirty work to keep this village safe, which is why we have to take steps to prevent any leakage of information. Such as making sure we can't spill a single word even if we're captured."

"ANBU does dirty work too. This is too extreme. Sounds more to me that he knows what he's doing is wrong so he's trying to cover his ass by burying it." Sakura spat fiercely. "Nothing excuses placing curse marks on your subordinates!"

"That's how we've been able to protect and support Konoha from below. His methods may be heavy-handed, but he does care very deeply about the village." Sai defended flatly. It had never struck him as something horrible until seeing Naruto's horror and Sakura's indignation at Danzo's methods.

"And what cause does he have to revoke Shishou's edict regarding Sasuke-kun?! He's planning to dispatch tracking units to chase after him, which funnily enough, he never did for Itachi. He didn't even make the bingo book, despite massacring a whole clan, openly attacking and injuring high ranking Konoha jonin, and targeting the nine-tails. But Sasuke-kun, who's done nothing but kill an open enemy of Konoha and a missing nin, is openly a threat worth chasing. Explain that to me!" Sakura demanded harshly. It was only just occurring to her that if Danzo had named Sasuke a missing nin, he had to have reasonable cause to believe Sasuke was still alive and about.

Sai jolted slightly. Danzo had ordered a hit on Sasuke? Had there been a misunderstanding?

"R-Really? He didn't mention anything about Sasuke to—"

Sakura suddenly turned as she found a blade pointing at her neck. "So tell us about this Sasuke, eh. Since you seem to be such good friends with him!" Demanded a beautiful, brash woman, bearing a Kumogakure hitai-ate, next to her was another hidden cloud shinobi with two swords strapped to his back.

Naruto grabbed Sai's sword from his back and threw it at the woman, forcing her to knock it out of the way with her sword, removing the threat from Sakura. Naruto stepped in closer to the woman his elbow out in a jab, when the man next to the woman ducked under her arm and stopped Naruto's elbow with the hilt of his sword. The woman rolled across her comrades back, bringing her sword in a wide slash.

"Don't cut him!" The man warned.

"I know." The woman said, as Naruto called out a shadow clone, who caught the blade between his hands.

"Shanna—" Sakura had charged up a punch and was running at the cloud shinobi when her brain caught up to her actions.

"What the hell am I doing?! I don't have chakra to waste on this! I barely have enough chakra for all the healing I need to do! And why the hell am I running straight in with a punch?! This isn't how I fight! What the hell am I doing?!"

She cut the chakra to her fist, but her momentum was still carrying her forward and before she could stop herself, a foot slammed into her stomach sending her body bouncing over the ground. She lost tracked of what happened with the rest of the battle as the air got knocked out of her.

"OW! I could have dodged that…what the hell is wrong with me?!"

The kick had taken her by surprise, but her training had consisted of having the ever-loving shit beaten out of her daily by Tsunade, and this was nothing by comparison. Her diaphragm recovered quickly, and she was up on her knees immediately, eyes narrowed at the two hidden cloud shinobi.

Naruto was at her side instantly, an arm offered to help her up, and Sai landed next to him.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Naruto shouted.

"Is there a reason Kumo is in Konoha?" Sakura asked levelly, despite having just been kicked by one of them.

"You were just talking about Sasuke, weren't you? We want to hear more about him!" The Kumo kunoichi gave an aggressive non-answer.

"Why? What does Sasuke-kun have to do with Cloud ninja?" Sakura asked, losing some of her cool.

"Why does it feel like suddenly everyone's after Sasuke-kun?!"

"Lots!" The ninja shouted, pointing accusingly at Sakura. "Uchiha Sasuke of Konoha assaulted our village!"

That shocked Sakura more than the kick to her stomach. Naruto had a similar reaction, his breath freezing in her lungs.

"That's not—he wouldn't—why would he—"

"He wouldn't do that! Why the hell would he do that?!" Sakura yelled. It didn't make any sense. She couldn't fathom Sasuke having any motive for attacking Kumo.

"How should we know the Akatsuki's motives?!" The man shouted back.

"…What do you mean the Akatsuki?!" Naruto breathed in shock.

"What the hell did that Akatsuki do to him?! There's no way Sasuke-kun would join of his own volition!…right? No. Right! He wouldn't! That Akatsuki must have done something—something—?!"

"You're kidding right?! Uchiha Sasuke's a member of the Akatsuki! Your rogue shinobi Uchiha kidnapped our teacher! We don't even know if Master's dead or alive, fools!" The bold woman shouted.

Sakura's mind went incredibly blank, like a heart monitor flatlining, and by the looks of it, Naruto's was as well.

"It's cuz you all let that rogue Shinobi run loose that Raikage-sama dispatched us! We've already gotten the Hokage's permission to dispose of Uchiha! We're going to avenge our master!" The male said.

"We'll take down the Uchiha!" The bold woman agreed.

This information hit Naruto like a building dropping on his head. Sasuke kidnapped their master? Just what happened to him? Sasuke would have never done that before!

"Tell us everything you know about Sasuke. Not just his ninjutsu style and abilities, but also any data you've collected on his companions and their skills as well." The bold woman demanded.

"There's no way…he wouldn't do that…not by his own volition…he…the Akatsuki…he wouldn't…" Her heart rate was accelerating, her breathing becoming shallow. Recognizing that she was verging on a panic attack, she squeezed her shaking first with her other hand until it was painful, hearing her bones groan in protest, using the pain to ground her in the present moment. Unfortunately, the present moment sucked.

"You there…you're starting to get on my nerves, girl!" The woman barked. "What's Sasuke to you, eh?!"

Sakura felt her eyes burning with tears as she stared down at her fist, because the answer to that question had never been less clear to her. Her mind seemed to not be working right, functioning much slower than it should have been, failing to connect obvious puzzle pieces, or missing them entirely. Sasuke should have returned to her. He was going to after killing Itachi, she was sure of it. But then the Akatsuki took him and…and she wasn't even sure if he was still alive. Now she knew he apparently was, so…why hadn't he come back to her? Why had he joined them? Why go after someone from the Kumo? She should have been able to reason some of this out, to put the pieces together and fill in the blanks. But nothing was coming up, she was just left with the obvious, shattered reality. She knew there was more to it, she was sure of it—felt it deep within herself, but her mind was lagging so much that she couldn't unearth what was going on.

A drop of water landed on her white knuckles, then another, and another. It took five tears sprinkling her fist for her to realize she was crying.

"S…Sakura-chan…" Naruto murmured, watching her silently shaking shoulders. Sakura almost always cried silently…a carryover from having to grow up as a caretaker, never wanting to make her mother worry.

"What are you crying for?! We're the ones who should weep! But weeping won't bring back either Killer Bee-sama nor Yugito-sama! If you have time to cry, then you have time to tell us about Sasuke!"

"Shut up!" Naruto growled—they didn't understand anything about Sakura. She barely had time to breathe recently, so they could just shut the fuck up about her having "time" to tell them about Sasuke, as if it wasn't obvious that she was painfully in love with him and her heart was breaking.

"Wait a minute. You know from the moment the order to dispose of Sasuke was approved, any and every piece of Konoha intel on Sasuke should have been handed over to you all. There's no need to pressure Naruto and Sakura for it." Sai cut in, not liking how sad and hurt Naruto and Sakura looked. The fact that Sakura was crying so silently also made him uncomfortable—like the feelings were expressing themselves without her truly feeling them. Naruto and Ino had been his shining examples of emotional expression so far, and when they felt something, they felt and expressed it fully. Was this grief or guilt she was feeling? Or anxiety, sadness, or stress? He wasn't sure. She was crying, and clearly Sasuke was at the root of it, but it wasn't clear the exact feelings she was experiencing.

"Sure, you're right! Our squad leader's waiting to receive that data as we speak. We figured we'd try to glean any additional information from those who might know something, that's all!" The bold woman grunted.

"We can't just sit around and do nothing when we have no clue what's happened to our sensei!" The man growled. "Though you all, being outsiders, probably have no idea what we're going through right now!"

Naruto remained silent, Jiraya, and his desire to avenge him echoing through his head.

"Your teacher…he's a jinchuriki?" Naruto asked solemnly.

"How'd you know?!"

"I'm a Jinchuriki. The Akatsuki are hunting us. I'm not an outsider…the akatsuki always take the jinchuriki alive. So your teacher might still be alive too."

Sakura's fist came back into focus as another tear cleared her eye. "That's right. That's what the Akatsuki does…so if Sasuke-kun's…if he's now part of the…if he was manipulated…into joining the Akatsuki…that would be his reason for attacking the hidden cloud…the Akatsuki objective. But how could they have possibly…what could have swayed him…"

"What?!"

"For real?!"

"So forget about Sasuke…you've got to rescue your sensei first!" Naruto continued. Sakura said she didn't understand revenge cause she was too focused on fixing the immediate problem…more people should try that. And now was the perfect time to try putting that into practice.

"You're really really sure? You better be right!" The man threatened.

"I told you! There's no way master would fall so easily!" The brash woman cheered.

"I'll help you find and rescue your teacher, and give you everything I've got on the Akatsuki." Naruto continued.

"Hey Blondie, you've got a sharp head on your shoulders! Come along with us and tell us about Sasuke!" The woman demanded.

"Naruto…" Sakura murmured, her voice very quite, but unnervingly steady considering the tears falling continuously from her soaked jade eyes.

Naruto didn't let her finish whatever she was about to say. "Let me handle this, Sakura-chan." Naruto spoke unwaveringly. She was already handling far more than she should. He would take on this responsibility himself. She shouldn't have to deal with it right now.

"So what's your name?" The brash woman asked.

"…Naruto."

"Sakura-chan!" They all turned to face a panicked looking nurse. "There's an emergency! A patient in critical—"

Sakura rose, the heel of her hand wiping away her tears, as she shifted her focus, slipping back into her medical persona like an escape.

"Let's go." She managed two steps before her concern about Naruto, Sai, and worry about Sasuke had her looking over her shoulder. Her feet didn't stop moving forward, but her mind was warring with her to stay back and face this crisis as team 7.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan. I've got this." Naruto was unwavering, not an ounce of hesitation or uncertainty in his face.

Sakura exhaled, and faced away from her teammates, resolutely hurrying towards med-base.


It was another flurry of hours running around the med-camp before Sakura finally got some time to check on Tsunade. She collapsed to her knees next to her master, doing a quick scan of her chakra levels, finding them still dangerously low. Her chakra was beginning to replenish, but the process was so slow.

"Sakura-chan." She turned to see Shizune making her way into the tent. "Did you get any rest?" One look at Sakura made it strikingly clear that she hadn't.

Sakura shook her head softly. "Danzo…how did he become hokage?"

Shizune gave a forlorn sigh, kneeling down next to her. "So you heard the news…That snake has major connections with the council and elders. He probably put those connections to work."

"After everything she did for Konoha…they just throw her away." Sakura growled.

"He was probably waiting for something like this to happen, and then spun it so it was somehow Tsunade-sama's fault." Shizune said bitterly.

"It's so wrong…that man…what he did to Sai…he's a monster. He can't be trusted with the village." Sakura spat. "And I swear, he has to have something against Sasuke-kun, because there's no other reason to make him such a top priority enemy! Even if…even if S-Sasuke-kun did…join the Akatsuki, Itachi was part of the Akatsuki for years and posed an explicit threat to the village and he never went after him or made his murder a priority—he didn't even include him in Root bingo books!" Her rage was spiking again. Lately, since the attack, it seemed like her ability to regulate her emotions had taken a sharp decline. She oscillated between misery, anxiety, and fury, the only refuge from which was her medical persona. Thankfully, there'd been barely an hours time where she hadn't needed her medical persona, being stuck utilizing it for much of her waking hours—and she was awake for at least twenty hours a day if not more.

"Sakura-chan!" Shizune hissed frantically, glancing behind her at the tent flap before leaning in closer to the girl. "I understand and I agree with you, but Danzo is not a man you can openly question. You've seen what he did to Sai, how he runs the Root. You need to be careful. You especially, as Tsunade-sama's apprentice, and civilian-born. He will use any excuse you give him to arrest or even put a hit out on you, I have no doubt." She leaned back, eyeing a fuming Sakura with concern. Sakura had always had a temper, one that if anything, Tsunade had encouraged, but she had always been level headed and immensely quick at picking up on the situation. No doubt the exhaustion from healing non-stop while maintaining her seal was straining her judgement and heightening her emotions.

Shizune couldn't fault her for that—she was singlehandedly carrying all of the medics, and by extension, the whole village. And while Naruto had rightly been given his laurels for saving the village, people seemed far less aware of Sakura's role in it, either solely attributing her efforts to Tsunade, the medics on the whole, or being unaware altogether, which meant they weren't extending the patience or gratitude to her that they were to Naruto. From the villagers' perspective, Shizune supposed that it seemed the medics job was not yet done, with so many still in critical or yellow zone condition, while failing to understand that everyone in critical and over half of the yellow zone occupants would all be dead if not almost entirely for Sakura. So she could forgive the girl's fraying temper and exhaustion-clouded judgement. But with Danzo helming the village, there was never a more dangerous time for an enraged reckless Sakura.

"I don't care! What's his deal with Sasuke-kun?! Why does he have it out for him?! I bet he's no different then that snakey-piece-of-human-experimenting shit, Orochimaru! He wanted Sasuke-kun for his Sharingan, and I bet Danzo is either terrified of it or wants it but—UGH! That doesn't make sense because then he would have made more of a concerted effort to go after Itachi!" Sakura raged, frustrated that the pieces weren't coming together.

"I mean it Sakura-chan! He could take that as treason!" Shizune admonished urgently. "Tsunade-sama will never forgive me if she wakes up and you're in Danzo's custody!"

"Excuse me." Came a flat voice from outside the tent flap, making both women still. Sai stepped in, and while Sakura didn't look particularly bothered by the interruption, Shizune felt her suspicion rising. This boy was part of Root after all.

"Sakura…I need to speak with you." Sai said seriously. He still didn't understand the bond between Sakura and Sasuke, or Naruto and Sakura. But he was certain of one thing, Naruto loved Sakura. He smiled more around Sakura, and was happier when she was there. He had read in a book that those were all conditions of love, and the exceedingly brief and barely coherent conversation he'd had with Ino about it seemed to affirm that. But seeing Sakura love Sasuke so much hurt Naruto. And he took so much on to himself for her. For the promise he'd mentioned making her, about bringing Sasuke back. He'd stayed behind when Naruto said he would handle speaking with the cloud ninja. He had watched Naruto get pummeled to a mess, before intervening when it seemed there was no end in sight. He bandaged Naruto when the boy insisted on not going to Sakura and making her worry or work harder. He had been there when Naruto, still bloody and bruised left with Kakashi and Yamato to beg the Raikage to forgive Sasuke. He was going so far, putting himself through so much for Sakura. For his promise to her. And that was far too heavy of a burden.

"Naruto took a beating from those Cloud-nin."

Sakura sprung up from the ground, her eyes wide. "Naruto did what?!"

"Yeah…in order to protect Sasuke. He got completely battered, but never sold him out. Furthermore, in order to prevent you from worrying, he asked me to keep it quiet."

"Naruto…damnit! He needs to stop minding me and start worrying for himself, shannaro!"

"Where is he?" Sakura demanded, not waiting for his answer as she headed for the tent flap.

"He left."

Sakura froze. "What do you mean he left?!"

"He left with Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-taichou. He's gone after the Raikage to ask him to forgive Sasuke, although it's probably futile."

"Why would he be so reckless? Especially with Kakashi at his side!" Shizune gasped.

"Because Kakashi-sensei believes in Naruto. I feel that he wanted to give Naruto the chance to try, no matter how futile it is."

Shizune fell silent, glancing at Tsunade's unconscious form. She'd done the same for Sakura, not declaring Sasuke a missing nin, and Naruto by not restricting him to the village.

"I was only recently assigned to team Kakashi to take Sasuke's place. I don't know you all very well, and I don't understand emotions in general, as you're very aware. But…with your help, I've started to recognize emotions more. I know of Naruto's promise to you, to bring Sasuke back, though I don't know the details…"

Sakura jolted, the promise echoing through her memory.

Naruto, I'm…I'm so sorry to ask this of you, but…please. Please bring Sasuke-kun back…I…I wasn't enough to stop him but you two…If he didn't listen to me, you're the only other person who stands a chance of convincing him…

I'll bring back Sasuke for sure! That's my promise of a lifetime!

"However…" Something strange happened to Sai's face. It's normal blankness was replaced with emotion—concern, desperation, hurt. "Even I can tell that Naruto really likes you!" His voice was louder and cracked with more emotion than she ever heard it.

It was like she'd taken another kick to the solar plexus, all the air rung from her lungs.

Ino's and Hinata's voices rang in her head, asking about Naruto's crush on her. Every "You're the best Sakura-chan!" And "you're so pretty Sakura-chan," and "wanna train together just the two of us, Sakura-chan," boomed through her mind in Naruto's over-excited voice. She always played it off, assumed it was just a childish crush, or maybe not even that—just a misunderstanding of what he felt for her. But if even Sai saw it…

Normally a part of her mind would have agued that Sai didn't understand emotions enough to parse out different kinds of like and love. It would have argued that yes, Naruto really liked her, but he could really like her as a friend, or as a sister, it didn't just have to be romantic. That part of her also would have argued that even if it was romantic, that didn't obligate her to return his feelings, and if Sai was bringing up the promise and how much strain it was putting on Naruto, that wasn't her fault. That she had tried to free him from it at every turn, tried to share the burden of it, and that it wasn't just because of that promise—Naruto wanted to bring Sasuke back all on his own no matter what her opinion on the matter was, because that's just how Naruto was. He wouldn't abandon a friend and teammate.

Unfortunately, her mind wasn't behaving like itself. She couldn't seem to generate a single logical argument against what he was leading towards, and the fact that Sai was displaying genuine emotion, etched his words into her mind and heart as unequivocally true.

Her eyes began to burn and blur with tears, which if she were more coherent she would have processed was the second time that day, though to her, the confrontation with the cloud ninja only hours before, felt like years ago. A tear slipped from her eye and trailed down her cheek, as she stared at Sai, her face otherwise blank as his normally was.

"S-Sakura…" Shizune murmured, eyeing the girl with concern.

"It seems to me that Naruto still bears the cross of the promise he made to you…and that he plans to bear it the rest of his life. I don't know what you said to Naruto, but it feels just like what I have…like a curse mark."

The words settled heavily on her, shattering the blankness as a sob bubbled up from her chest, her shoulders shaking and grief making it impossible to draw a proper breath.

She'd seen what curse marks did to people. How it had corrupted Sasuke, how it had imprisoned Sai…how it was used by Orochimaru and Danzo, the two people she hated the most. If that promise was a curse mark imprisoning Naruto, than she was no better then Orochimaru or Danzo.

"Sasuke is certainly making Naruto suffer…" Sai's voice was dark, and tinged with grief. Though to his ears his voice just sounded abnormally rough. Something in his chest was hurting, roughly where his heart was, though he couldn't fathom why, as he hadn't sustained any damage to the area. He would have asked Sakura to check it for him, if he hadn't been certain that she would never wish to speak with or see him after this. Something about that thought made his chest hurt more, and knowing how much Ino cared for Sakura, he had a feeling he'd be losing her too…but the endless beating Naruto had been wiling to take for Sasuke, how he had been willing to handle the Cloud ninja on his own to spare Sakura from that pain, and how he hadn't wanted her to know about any of it—he just couldn't stomach it. "But…I think you may be, too?"

The tears fell in an open cascade, the pressure on her chest only growing worse. Once upon a time, she drowned and Sasuke had given her CPR. She was drowning again…but no one was breathing air back into her lungs this time.

"That's not true!" Shizune shouted harshly. "Naruto himself genuinely wants to rescue Sasuke, not just because of his promise to Sakura! And she's done everything she can to bring Sasuke back and is suffering too! If Naruto is pushing too hard, you can't blame that on Sakura!"

"I agree that Naruto wants to bring Sasuke back, regardless of his promise. But…both Sakura and I, and everyone else rely on Naruto too much."

Sakura stared at the floor, her tears falling steadily. There were so many arguments to be made, but not a single one came to her mind, because he was speaking her worst fears and doubts, making them valid and undeniably true.

Shizune let out a cry of rage. "That's not fair! Sakura-chan's—"

"After watching Naruto recently, I've been starting to sense the sadness…and then when I think about Sasuke, my stomach starts feeling hot, and thanks to Sakura and Ino, I've come to know that as anger. For both Naruto and Konoha, we've got to do something about this ourselves, instead of relying on Naruto."

"It's just as Sai says…" the tent flap had pushed open, though Sakura didn't look up. She was close enough with him to recognize Shikamaru by his voice.

"Shikamaru…" Shizune growled, aghast that he was supporting Sai in Sakura's time of need.

"We're not kids anymore. We need to stop the Akatsuki." Shikamaru spoke firmly, but his stomach lurched uncomfortably, looking at Sakura's downcast head. He closed his eyes, collecting himself. He'd been the one to insist on talking to her, so he needed to get it together.

Kiba had just found them all in Hinata's tent and informed them about the change in Hokage and Sasuke's missing nin status as a now member of the Akatsuki.

Ino had immediately broken down in tears, Choji trying to comfort her with worried, sympathetic eyes.

"Stop crying Ino!" Kiba barked, failing to see why Sasuke deserved so many tears shed over him.

"Don't talk to her like that! Ino-chan is…" TenTen's defense trailed off as she eyed Ino with worry.

"It can't be helped! Things are different now than they were before!" Kiba answered firmly.

"It's not just about S-Sasuke-k-kun!" Ino sobbed. "Tsunade-sama…and, and…S-Sakura-chan, this'll—" She broke down, unable to fathom what this might do to her best friend, who was holding the village together with little acknowledgment, while coming undone at the seams herself as a result.

"Ino's right…Sakura and Naruto—" Shino spoke up, kind despite his enigmatic nature. Sakura had earned his respect for the brave call she'd made on their joint mission together, as well as for how much she'd helped Hinata over the years, and for the way she was taking care of his sensei throughout her pregnancy. And as for Naruto, well, everyone respected and cared for Naruto now, after how he saved the village, and Shino happened to respect Naruto since the third round of their first Chunin exams. He'd seen their response to the last mission when they failed to get to Sasuke.

"I'll talk to them." Shikamaru said seriously, before closing his eyes. This was going to be a total drag, but he felt responsible—it wouldn't have got this far if he'd only succeeded in his mission to bring Sasuke back the first time.

"Shikamaru-kun. Let me talk to them. You're too harsh." Hinata disagreed, her voice quiet as always, but firm. She still hadn't forgotten or forgiven what he said to Sakura the day after Sasuke left.

Shikamaru stared her down quietly, her eyes full of concern and steely resolve. After a second he sighed. "You can tell Naruto. But believe it or not, I understand Sakura better than you may think. I know exactly what he means to her and why, down to the details. I can tell you don't trust me with this, but try."

"Then Ino-chan—"

"Ino's having a hard enough time with this as it is. And she's going to need to be the one to comfort Sakura after…I'll be the bearer of bad news. It is…partially my fault."

"But—"

"Hinata-sama…let's let Shikamaru handle it. I believe he'll know what to say to get through to her. Are you certain you'd be able to convince her of what needs to be done, if you were the one to go?" Neji broke in gently, proud of the growth she displayed in her push back and argument. It seemed her courage hadn't just gone into facing Pain on Naruto's behalf, it had continued to grow.

Hinata looked away, still looking like she wished to disagree, her eyes sad and worried, but determined. But even she knew she wouldn't be able to bring herself to do it. Figuring out what she was going to say to Naruto was already hard enough.

"Alright…but, p-please, try to be understanding…"

Shikamaru opened his eyes, and forced himself to look at her. "…Sakura. We need to stop Sasuke."

Sakura still didn't look at him. He felt his throat tightening. He didn't like seeing Sakura in so much pain, and he didn't want to trigger a reaction, especially not in the middle of med-camp. He wondered if she'd ever forgive him for this. The thought that she might not added to the plummeting in his stomach, but he needed to make her understand.

"I came here to ask the consent of cell number seven's members."

"Consent?! Don't tell me—" Shizune was not only horrified, but positively seething. How dare they ambush Sakura and spring this on her, after all she'd done for the village! How dare Sai try and blame her for Naruto's determination and self-sacrificing nature! And how dare Shikamaru use that emotional blow as his way in to discuss openly killing the love of her life! After everything Sakura had lost, and how ragged she'd been running herself for everyone!

"Yeah. That's right." Shikamaru stepped closer to Sakura, holding both of her upper arms, hoping it helped ground her—she was practically vibrating, which worried him. How close was she to an attack?

"Sakura. I understand you might hate me for this. Please hear me out. Konohagakure cannot afford to go to war with Kumogakure right now. Sasuke attacked Kumo's jinchuriki, who happens to be the younger brother of their Raikage. And Kumo's pissed—enough so to demand permission to go after him and get information from us. If they kill Sasuke, you, Naruto, Kakashi, Ino, and probably Hinata, will go after them, whether you kill them or just try and stop them, they will retaliate. And then Choji, Lee, Neji, Kiba, TenTen, our respective parents, sensei and senpai, they won't sit still. I won't sit still. It will quickly escalate into war. With the state Konoha is in, we cannot afford that. You can't afford that. You're understaffed and spread thin as it is. You haven't gotten the chance to rest. You're single-handedly but barely keeping the medical camp afloat, and many of our combat forces are still in critical or mid-level condition. We cannot go to war." Sakura had slowly raised her head to look at him, and her desolate expression felt like a punch to the chest. The shadows and bags under her eyes were jarring. When had she last gotten sleep? He took another deep breath and kept going, forcing himself to stare into her flooded jade eyes and not look away. "From what Kumo said, they already consider Sasuke an international felon. And if he continues to align himself with the Akatsuki, the hatred against him will only increase, from all sides. The only way for this to resolve peacefully, is if we take responsibility and handle it ourselves. You're the third best at shogi in the village, behind my dad and I. You've worked so closely with Tsunade-sama, you've picked up on the politics. You understand what we need to do, Sakura, don't you?" His voice grew gentler, but he held her firmly none the less.

A quick flash of terrifying rage darted through her eyes, forcing him to fight his instinct to release her and step back. "Saku—"

"Isn't it interesting how different the response to Sasuke-kun is than it was to Itachi?" Her voice was startlingly sharp and cold, for the burning rage in her eyes. Again Shikamaru had to fight his instincts to put some distance between himself and her, though he couldn't hide his flinch.

"Itachi never openly attacked someone so high-profile from another village…" Shikamaru reasoned softly, though she was right. The discrepancy was odd. "Itachi isn't the issue now. The problem is Sasuke's actions."

The anger faded from her eyes so quickly, she was back to looking so completely desolate, that Shikamaru wished he hadn't brought the subject back around. At least when she was angry, she looked like herself, alive and fighting. But this…this brokenness. It felt unbearable.

"Sakura…you understand what the consent is for, and why it's necessary. So…what do you say?"

"Stop talking. Just…don't say anything." Sakura murmured, her voice as broken as her expression.

"What…the hell?! What am I supposed to do?! If he's really…if he's gone that far…but why would he? He wanted to come home! He was supposed to come home! That Akatsuki said something to him…if…I could just talk to him, maybe I could end this without…Yeah. I need to talk to him. Just me and him. I should be able to get through to him, and if I can't…if he's really gone…then I'll do it. Naruto shouldn't have to. He's risking too much. He shouldn't be begging Kumo for forgiveness, and taking beatings for everything. Sai's right. We just dropped handling Pain all to him…that wasn't fair…I won't make this responsibility his too. I'll do it. He shouldn't have to…I don't think he could if he wanted…I'll do it if it needs to be done. That'll put an end to everything, cause I'll die too. But…but it won't come to that. I'll talk to him and convince him to come home. And if that doesn't work…I'll put an end to this hatred now."

Shikamaru closed his eyes again, his expression resigned and pained, waiting for her to scream or punch him. He dropped his hands from her arms and took a step back, awaiting her next words.

Sai also remained silent feeling an uncomfortable chewing feeling in his stomach, at how shattered Sakura looked. Shikamaru's reasoning for why Konoha couldn't afford to go to war hadn't occurred to him, especially not why Sakura personally could not afford a war. He knew Sakura was in charge of the medical camp, and very busy, but he hadn't realized just how single handed her efforts were. The impossibly brief moments he'd seen her, she never once complained. And while she looked more hag-like than ever, he'd been too distracted by his own missions and situations within the Root and with reconstruction to think too long or hard about why her physical appearance had deteriorated. He was struck with the sudden wish that he could take back their whole conversation. He felt he hadn't expressed himself well or said what he'd really been trying to get at, and unfairly, he'd expected Sakura to just understand what he meant, because she always managed to before. He should have realized sooner that she was in no condition for that, and that he was unfairly placing too much on her, just as he had accused them both of doing to Naruto. But he didn't even know how to begin to take back any of it…the damage had clearly been done. And Sakura had proven to have an unpredictable streak. A sinking feeling soon accompanied the uncomfortable gnawing.

Shizune didn't even have words at the moment. She saw Shikamaru's logic. It made terrifying sense. There was no flaw in it. But she was so angry that they drop all of this on Sakura after she was thanklessly carrying so much. So angry that Shikamaru had layered it with the emotional abuse Sai (hopefully unintentionally) just dealt her. So angry that they were doing this on the tail of the news of Tsunade's position being stripped, and replaced with someone who abjectly hated their beloved teacher, who was still unconscious for the sacrifice she'd made for the village. And she was so worried about her kohai, who'd become something like a little sister to her.

"I'm…" Shikamaru opened his eyes and stared at her, unable to keep the guilt and resignation from his face. "I'm sorry Sakura. But no matter your answer—"

"I said don't talk." Her voice was so quiet, and so frighteningly detached. Sakura wiped her tears away with the heel of her hand. Her expression the detached mask she used to wear through the academy.

It was more frightening and concerning to Shikamaru than if she'd screamed and cursed him to beyond the grave.

"I'll talk to Naruto." She said.

"You…you don't have to do that. Hinata will—"

"She can't." Her voice somehow managed to be detached and sharp at the same time. "He's left the village to meet the Raikage. Hinata-chan hasn't recovered yet. She's not cleared to leave her tent."

"Naruto's already?!—wait! Sakura! You can't leave! I'll talk to him! The med-camp—"

"Shizune-senpai can handle mid-level cases while I'm gone, and coach other medics through any crises in critical care."

"Don't be ridiculous! Med-camp needs you—"

"You wanted team 7's consent. Naruto won't give it to you. Nor will I if you don't let me be the one who tells him. You made it clear you don't care about my answer, but the whole point of getting our consent is because you don't trust that if you kill Sasuke-kun, Naruto and I won't kill you. And there goes your cycle of revenge, your war, except this time, it's internal. Arguably more dangerous than a war between two villages. So you actually do care, at least about Naruto's answer. If you want your consent, you're going to let me talk to him." Her voice was so dangerously hostile and yet so detached, as if they were nothing more than strangers to each other.

"You have too many patients relying on you." Shikamaru tried again. He got the feeling that letting this emotionally wrecked Sakura out of the village was signing her up for death by chakra reaction.

"Then forget whatever idea you have of settling this peacefully. Make peace with the fact that there will be a war, one way or another." Sakura dismissed, walking past him without so much as looking at him.

"Where are you going?" Shikamaru asked, not turning to face her—he was a little afraid of what he might see…that he'd done irrevocable damage to their friendship.

"According to you, med-camp can't run without me. I better be getting back to work. There's a war I need to prepare myself for." Emotional manipulation could work two ways. She wasn't just going to be on the receiving end of it. And she had to be the one to talk to Naruto for more reasons then one.

She just pushed the flap aside when Shikamaru's voice stopped her again.

"Sakura…You tell him…"

Sakura stopped, still not looking back at him. After a moment she nodded. "I'll get everything squared away with the medics and critical patients. I'll leave in two hours." She walked out, her detached expression a sharp contract to the torrent of feelings tearing her from the inside. But she desperately clung to the plan to talk to Sasuke. It was the fraying thread of hope struggling to hold her together.


Sakura stood on the outskirts of the reconstructed gate. After making sure the patients in critical were stable and that there were flow charts of procedures and clear chain of command should anything go wrong with them, she'd stopped by her tent and grabbed her cloak, stuffed her med pouch with all the necessary supplies. She left the book on medical herbs out with a note for Inari, claiming that she'd been sent on a mission but that he should still take the book for Ageha. With everything squared away, she'd been planning to just head off, but Shikamaru had intercepted her, insisting she take three others with her. She pushed back, but he finally convinced her when he pointed out that she would have difficulty finding Naruto's exact location without a tracker. Knowing he had a point, she relented, but told him if they weren't at the gate in fifteen minutes, she was leaving on her own. They had five minutes left.

At three minutes, Kiba and Akamaru, Sai, and Lee came running into view, all of them dressed in heavy traveling cloaks.

"Let's go." Sakura didn't even wait until they fully caught up with her, turning toward the path and taking off into the woods.

Sakura remained silent, stoic, armed with her detached expression through out the whole journey, making Kiba and Lee shift uncomfortably, and the gnawing sinking feeling Sai had even worse.

They traveled for five and a half days, rarely taking breaks, never for longer than two hours at a time, and while Sakura was the one who needed the breaks more than any of them, she never once asked for them—only stopping when one of the boys made the request. Of course, they did need the breaks sometimes, but all three boys voiced requests for breaks out of concern for Sakura. The silent, cold, stoic Sakura was unfamiliar and concerning to all of them, and she was barely sleeping, using the breaks more for meditation than true sleep. At the very least she ate and kept herself hydrated, but that seemed to be where the self care started and ended.

During one such break, Sai could no longer fight the gnawing feeling at his stomache, and attempted to try clearing the air with Sakura. She was leaning against a tree, her eyes closed in meditation, not sleeping. But she hadn't slept on any of their breaks…and based on what Shikamaru had said to her, she hadn't slept since long before they left Konoha in the first place…he wondered if she'd slept at all since Pain's assault.

"Sakura…" He spoke quietly, approaching her while Lee and Kiba were enrapt in discussion further away.

Sakura didn't move or give any visible sign that she heard him, but she did let out a small, "hm?"

"Please don't hold everything in, close to yourself. I'm still your fellow cell 7 mate, plus the others, they're also—"

"Thank you, Sai. Don't worry, I'm not holding it all in." Sakura's tone was light, but there was a strange distance to it, a formality that he'd never heard from her before, and made him feel like he wasn't truly her cell 7 mate at all. She turned and smiled at him, and it was so close to convincing, like the first fake smile she gave him, but something about it that he couldn't quite name gave it away. Just like the first time, it was fake. "I just don't want to be a curse mark to anyone anymore." Something sad mixed with the fake of her smile, and in a way it made it almost more real and genuine, but then she'd turned away entirely. "We should keep moving." And that was the end of it. The air not even a little cleared, the gnawing in his stomach far worse, and Sai all the more certain that she was holding in everything.

As they continued heading north, the temperature began to drop. They caught the first evidence of frost and ice deep into the Land of Earth. By the time they reached the very small Land of Medicined, they had been venturing through snow for several kilometers. It was obvious to the others just how strangely Sakura was acting, when she had no reaction to being in the Land of Medicine. Sakura under normal circumstances would be thrilled to be in a country whose primary export and claim to fame was their medicines. She would have been examining every herb, stopping into every apothecary and clinic, interviewing every local. But Sakura's exhausted eyes stared resolutely ahead, her focus never swaying as they followed Naruto's trail.


Sasuke stood in front of Gaara, from where the summit hall had been wrecked. Blood trickling from his Mangekyo.

"Gaara of the sand…" Sasuke murmured. Memories tickled from the shadowy depths of his mind, but they sunk back into the darkness, unable to fully surface.

"You Samurai stay back. This is shinobi world messiness." Gaara rasped to the surrounding swordsmen. "There's no need for Samurai to become casualties."

"Th-Thank you, Kazekage-sama." One Samurai murmured, helping his injured comrade to safety.

"Why'd ya interfere, Kazekage?! Not that I'm going to forgive you either way!" The Raikage grunted, getting to his feet.

"If you had continued with your attack, you would have been further injured by the black flames." Gaara explained, calmly. "Plus, there's something I'd like to ask Uchiha Sasuke."

The Raikage only grumbled in response, cutting off the part of his arm burning with the Amaterasu flames, as if it was nothing.

"B-Boss!" Gasped his body guard.

"Shee, hurry up and stop the bleeding! Soon as you're done, I'm going after Sasuke again!"

Shee got to work healing his master, worrying over the strength and threat Sasuke posed.

"Your eyes are still as they were in the past…" Gaara noted. Lonely, full of hatred and murderous intent.

Again vague memories tickled at Sasuke's mind, some managing to break through the shadows this time. Memories of a monstrous, murder-hungry Gaara noting the similarities between them.

"…I have come to realize that making vengeance one's bread of life does not resolve anything. It is not too late for you…do not be so obsessed by hatred that you escape into a world of solitude or else you will not be able to return." Gaara warned.

Sasuke let out a humorless laugh. "So…If I were to return, what is there for me on your side?" He challenged, a manic sort of fury curling through his chest.

Gaara stared at him in abject confusion. He'd heard this boy declare Sakura precious to him. What did he mean 'what was there for him'? "…Sakura." He stated, like it was painfully obvious, her name softening his bright green eyes. He would have expected Sasuke to similarly soften, but was caught off guard at the vicious volley of flame barreling towards him.

His sand dispersed when the flames stopped, revealing a Sasuke who was practically radiating hatred.

"And here I thought you'd turned away from being a heartless monster." Sasuke drawled murderously.

"What are you talking about?" Gaara asked, truly confused by his reaction.

Sasuke glared at him so intensely, he half expected a bout of black flames next.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "But why would you know…" he murmured quietly. "You're not a Konoha nin…why would they tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Gaara pressed, his stomach dropping like he was a child facing a demon desert scorpion.

"She's dead."

Gaara blinked. No she wasn't. She couldn't be. He would have heard about it…but then, would he have? As Sasuke stated, he wasn't a konoha nin. And she wasn't from a big clan. She was the Hokage's apprentice, but the Hokage was in a coma, and had been replaced by that highly unlikable man, Danzo, who he didn't trust on instinct. So…he realized with horror that he wouldn't know without someone from Konoha telling him. And everyone he was closed to from Konoha, was someone who would be so heavily effected by her loss that they would be too consumed by grief to tell him.

"…When? If it was the Akatsuki attack—"

"It wasn't. It was Konoha who did it."

Now Gaara knew that was impossible. There was absolutely no way. Tsunade would never let anyone harm her apprentice. She loved Sakura like a daughter. She'd probably destroy Konoha herself before letting them lay a finger on Sakura. Something had to be wrong. Sasuke had to be wrong. And if he was wrong about that, he might be wrong about Sakura's death, though he seemed firmly convinced.

"So, tell me again, Gaara of the sand. What is there for me on your side?!" This time, the black flames really did come.


"Naruto's scent's getting stronger." Kiba reported, as they neared the boarder to the Land of Iron.

"What's Naruto's scent smell like?" Lee asked curiously. Kiba wrinkled his nose.

"Like ramen, salt, body odor, and weak deodorant." He grumbled, Akamaru gave a small whine.

"Fascinating! What about me?" Lee asked, now excited.

"Mostly like sweat."

"What about Sai?"

"Ink, scentless deodorant, and skin—hard to describe what that smells like, exactly. Pretty mild overall."

"And Fair Sakura-san?"

"Sakura smells like jasmine, sage, aloe, lemon, and a antiseptic. Pretty good comparatively. Most of the Kunoichi in our year smell better than the guys do."

"This is most interesting! What about—"

"Hey…" Sakura's voice was quiet, but everyone feel silent immediately. She'd barely said anything the whole five and a half days of travel. "I'll talk to Naruto about everything. So don't say anything to him about it. Please promise me this…all of you."

"I will leave it to you, fair Sakura-san!" Lee said with a salute.

"So long as you tell him…" Kiba agreed. "I think he's here." They just entered a small village past the boarder to the Land of Iron. "His scent's really strong now."

Sai didn't say anything, but when Sakura looked him, he gave a small nod.

They slowed as they walked through the village, following Kiba to the outside of a small inn.

"In there?" Lee asked.

"Nah. Up there." Kiba looked up where they saw Naruto sitting on the roof of the building, Yamato and Kakashi standing next to him.

"Finally found ya!" Kiba called up to him, grabbing Yamato and Kakashi's attention as well.

"Sakura-chan! Sai, Kiba, even Bushy Brows?!" Naruto blinked in confusion. What were they doing here? His eyes lingered on Sakura, the words of the masked Akatsuki they'd met earlier fresh in his mind. The truth about Itachi…she'd suspected there was more to the story from the start, always questioning why Itachi acted the way he did, why Konoha had never made more of an effort to go after him. She deserved to know, and yet he felt hesitant to tell her. He didn't want to be the one to tell her that Sasuke had been manipulated, that he'd chosen darkness over her, again. For the first time ever, he found himself considering hiding the truth from her. She was already carrying so much. He could handle this, she didn't need the heart break.

"Why are you all here?" Kakashi questioned, his eyes trained worriedly on Sakura. Something was wrong. She expression looked like it did back when she was a genin—worse even. There was no polite smile in place. Just guards and walls. Her skin was abnormally pale, despite the cold, her eyes as shadowed and exhausted as they had been five and a half days ago—worse even.

Sakura took a step forward, her eyes resolute, trained on Naruto. "We need to talk."


"Well now what?" The Tsuchikage asked to the room at large, in the wake of the masked Akastuki, Madara, declaring war on the Five Great Nations.

"Form an allied Shinobi force. It's the only way we can counter the power of seven biju." Gaara stated, his mind focused on his role and responsibility as Kazekage, while his heart hammered with panic, desperate for news of Sakura.

"Raikage-sama, you opposed before?" The Mizukage asked, though it was less of a question and more of a statement.

"Seems my little brother is safe…but we cannot allow ourselves to be bullied by the Akatsuki any longer! We form an allied Shinobi force and we wipe them out in one blow!" The Raikage answered gruffly.

"What about Konoha? The Hokage's still in the wind." The Tsuchikage pointed out.

"The dark rumors surrounding Danzo persist, and after what's happened at this summit, he's proved untrustworthy. Plus when Konoha's shinobi find out about this, his standing will become shaky. He must be deposed." The Raikage answered.

Gaara saw his opening and jumped to take it. "I'll pass on the news about an allied Shinobi force to a Konoha ninja I trust." He said quickly.

"Who?"

"Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan eye."


Naruto jumped down from the roof landing in front of her. He felt anxious. Had the masked Akatsuki found and told her about Sasuke and Itachi? Was that what this was about? What would Sakura say? She already had some problems with Konoha's government and laws. If she found out just how dark Konoha could be, would she even stay?

"What's going on, Sakura-Chan?"

Sakura's throat felt too tight to generate sound, her stomach plummeting at what she was about to do.

"I'm so sorry, Hinata-Chan…"

"I love you." She spoke seriously, meeting his blue eyes with an unwavering gaze. It wasn't a lie, though she didn't feel it in the way she was trying to imply.

The reaction was immediate. Kakashi stared at her perplexed, Lee's jaw dropped, Yamato seemed unsure if he heard her right, Kiba's brow furrowed unsure of what this had to do with killing Sasuke, and Sai eyed her suspiciously.

Naruto blinked. "Yeah, I know that Sakura-Chan." Why come all the way here just to tell him that when she had so much to manage back home?

Now it was Sakura's turn to blink. "Huh? He misunderstood…?"

"No Naruto, I'm telling you I love you." She insisted, though to her own ears the confession was sounding less romantic in nature by the second.

"Yeah. I know, Sakura-Chan." He repeated more slowly, growing more confused. "You didn't have to come all the way here to tell me that." He'd known since the final round of the chunin exams.

"No, Naruto! I—"

"This isn't working. I guess it doesn't matter, it only changes what I say about my current feelings for Sasuke-kun. It doesn't change anything about how worried I am about Naruto. This approach can still work."

"It is important I come all the way here to tell you that! I love you! You're so so important to me, and I hate that you're getting yourself beaten bloody, and chasing down kage through the wilds just to beg on Sasuke's behalf!" His name felt wrong and unfamiliar without the honorific, but she needed to sell it. "I care about you so much, and I can't afford to lose you. I already lost my dad, my mom, shishou's in a coma, and Sasuke. I can't lose you too! Just forget that promise to me. I don't care about bringing Sasuke back anymore. He's gone. Stop chasing him and please, please, for my sake just worry about yourself! About the Akatsuki, Danzo, and the village. That's already so much more than one person should ever have to carry. Don't add Sasuke and that promise to that list."

Naruto didn't say anything, his eyes narrowing a little and jaw slackening.

"What do you mean—" Yamato was cut off by Kakashi's are blocking his path, his eyes trained on Sakura.

Kiba's eyes narrowed, recalling the only thing Sakura said to them throughout the whole journey.

I'll talk to Naruto about everything. So don't say anything to him about it. Please promise me this…all of you.

So, this was her angle. But how would she convince him to agree to killing Sasuke?

"What are you saying?" Naruto's voice was gruff.

"I'm saying I care about you too much to see you keep hurting yourself like this over Sasuke!"

"You're not making any sense! You love Sasuke! It's hurting you too!"

"I don't." Her voice was quiet, and she had to force herself to keep looking into his eyes. If she turned away, he'd know she was lying.

"What—"

"I don't love him. Not anymore. Why should I? He left me to join with the man responsible for my mom's death. He almost killed you. He attacked us. He didn't come back to me. Now he's joined the Akatsuki, who are targeting you, just destroyed the village, and put shishou in a coma. He's running further and further away, adding to his crimes…I don't recognize him anymore. Why should I love him?"

The silence around them was deafening. If it wasn't so sad, Lee may have wondered if he now had a shot, but instead of hope, he just felt despair for Sakura, who had loved Sasuke so fiercely. Kiba felt it was high time she moved on, she should have done it sooner, but he couldn't help but wonder how she was going to tell Naruto about their class's decision to handle Sasuke themselves, because he clearly wasn't taking this all that well. Yamato couldn't believe it. Sakura had been the one holding firm to the belief that Sasuke still cared for them back at the hideout. But she sounded so sure now, and heart broken. She must have reached her limit…who could blame her, with all Sasuke had done.

Sai would have believed her if he hadn't seen how convincing her fake smile was. Her expression back in the tent when he spoke to her…he was sure she still loved Sasuke. But telling Naruto she loved him—meaning it, and Naruto knowing it, that was utterly confusing. He was beginning to think he may have misread something.

Kakashi knew she was lying. There was no way that's how Sakura felt. There was nothing in her words, voice, posture, or eyes to assure him he was right. Just his instincts. And his instincts were telling him she was lying. That's how much she loved Naruto. She would lie about her love for Sasuke to try and stop Naruto from pushing too far and hard.

"What do you mean, why?!" Naruto demanded, alarmed. "Because he's Sasuke! Because he's a broody pretty-boy bastard who would die for you! Because he got all gentle and protective whenever it was about you! Because he believed in and saw your skills more than anyone! Because he was always different with you! You were always an exception to his bastard behavior!" Naruto shouted.

"You don't even see it, do you?!" Now she was shouting too…this wasn't going the way she'd imagined. She felt like she was being stabbed repeatedly—even Naruto had seen it. How different Sasuke was with her. She hadn't thought he noticed. "Everything you just said is in past tense! Maybe, back then, Sasuke f-felt something for me! But that's not the case anymore!"

"Bullshit!" Naruto shouted. "That's bullshit and you know it! What happened to you, Sakura-chan? Why are you giving up on him? On team 7?!" Naruto took a deep breath, shaking his head. "No. That's not right. It's not that you're giving up on him, it's that you're lying that you are. I…hate people who lie to themselves!" He said firmly, glaring down into her eyes.

"I'm…lying to myself?" She questioned, her voice quiet and dangerous. Naruto didn't say anything, continuing to stare her down. "I think I know my own heart, Naruto!"

"I would think you would too!" Naruto was back to shouting.

"You would think?! Don't make some lame excuse! If you hate me just come out and say it!" Sakura was shouting again too.

"Of course I don't! But it's just weird! You came all the way here just to tell me something I already know, and then say something that you'd never say in a million years?!"

"…Just?" She whispered. "Just?!" Back to yelling. What was wrong with her? This wasn't how this conversation was supposed to go! "You insist on putting yourself into danger and taking every risk possible even when it's not necessary! If the Akatsuki gets you, or you die, and I never got the chance to tell you how important you are to me, do you think I'd ever be able to come back from that?! I rarely told my mom what I felt, and how much I loved her, and I regret that every second! Of course I'd come all the way here! You're always talking about Sasuke this and Sasuke that and chasing after him, getting yourself into dangerous situations! You're the nine tails jinchuriki, being actively targeted by the Akatsuki! Why don't you worry about yourself for a change?! I'm trying to tell you, you don't have to chase him to the point of putting yourself in danger! I'm trying to tell you I care more about you living than getting Sasuke back! I came all the way here because I want you to come back to the village! That's why!"

Again everything fell into a tense silence, Naruto finally breaking eye contact with her to take a deep calming breath. "I get where you're coming from Sakura-chan. And I believe that you're worried about me…but all that stuff about Sasuke just sounds like an excuse."

Sakura let out a growl of frustration. She didn't know how long she could keep repeating the lie that she didn't love Sasuke without making herself viscerally sick. "If you get why I'm so worried about you, then why don't you understand?! I don't care about Sasuke at all anymore now that he's just a criminal!" She could have punched herself for that. "So the promise between us doesn't stand anymore! Forget about it!"

Naruto closed his eyes. "It's not just about that promise." He opened his eyes, staring at the white snow covering the ground. "Maybe I understand more now…why Sasuke has become obsessed with revenge and is causing so much damage…"

Kakashi and Yamato both eyed him, well aware he was thinking of what the masked Akatsuki, Madara, had revealed about Itachi and Konoha. "Sasuke really loved his family and clan…and I think because his love is so deep, it's hard for him to forgive…you already understood that, didn't you, Sakura-chan?"

"Then why, after defeating the unforgivable Itachi, did he ally with the Akatsuki?" Kiba barked, cutting into the mess of conversation that existed solely between Naruto and Sakura until now.

"That's not how it went down…what really happened…"

Sakura jerked, her eyes narrowing. "What really happened? What does Naruto know…? I knew there was more to it, but I haven't been able to make it all make sense…"

"Naruto!" Kakashi's voice rung out before she could ask what he meant. They had all agreed to keep what Madara said top secret, until they could discern his motive for sharing and verify if he was being truthful. He especially wanted to keep the secret from Sakura for now. He knew she had been digging for this truth for years, and that she wasn't all that far off from putting it together on her own. But she had too much wearing on her right now, what with her carrying the medical camp on her back and not sleeping or stopping for rest. Plus he wasn't quite sure how Sakura would react, as she wasn't always the biggest fan of Konoha's policies and systems. The last thing he wanted was to drive her away. He planned to tell her once he had more verification and understanding, but he wanted time to figure out how to present it.

Naruto closed his mouth, silent for a second before bringing himself back to the argument at hand. "Anyway, it doesn't matter…even if there's no promise between us anymore. Because I have to rescue Sasuke, for my own sake." Naruto stated unwaveringly, feeling Sakura's gaze lock back on him, from where it'd been trained suspiciously on their sensei.

Sakura held his gaze, not even blinking. "…Well, it's not like I didn't think it would end up like this…at least I tried. He's free from his promise to me…I can't stop him past that."

Sai's gaze dropped to the ground. He was certain of it now. He had totally misread their relationship. Of course, he always knew Naruto wanted to bring Sasuke back for his own reasons, not just the promise, but he thought the promise had been the driving reason. He thought Naruto's feelings for Sakura were a crushing weight on him. Somewhere along the line, he'd totally misunderstood.

Kiba leaned forward, whispering in Sakura's ear. "Now what? Why don't we just go ahead and tell him the plan?"

Sakura stepped down hard on Kiba's foot, making him grunt in pain. She turned on her heel, the movement slightly less graceful then usual for her, due to her exhaustion. "It's like arguing with a damn wall. I'm going home. You better make it back alive. Let's go, Lee-san, Kiba, Sai."

"Sakura-san…" Lee murmured.

"C'mon, just go." Kiba grumbled kicking snow over his boot to help ease the pain in his toe.

Safely facing away from Naruto, a tear she'd been holding back slipped down her cheek. "I'm so sorry Naruto…I'll talk to Sasuke-kun. I'll convince him. And if it's a lost cause, and I can't…I'll free you from this mess."

Sai glanced at the bundle of wood planks they passed, where his ink clone was hidden. He had a feeling Sakura was about to lean into her unpredictable tendency, and he wanted to make sure he could help do damage control on the situation he was certain he caused.

"Are you sure this is what you wanted, Sakura?" Kiba asked after a while as the small village receded away.

"Kiba, I need a favor."

Kiba jolted a little. She hadn't asked him for a favor since she asked him to help her train her dancer's barrage. "What?"

"I want to get this over with before I waiver…can you track Sasuke-?" she nearly let the honorific slip past her lips, but bit it back. She needed them to think she was on board for their plan.

"…Alright. I still remember his scent from last mission…give me a second." Kiba paused, sniffing the area with Akamaru. "I got a lead. Follow me." He said after a minute, leading them deeper into the Land of Iron.


Naruto shook his head, still reeling from the strangest conversation he ever had with Sakura. He still wasn't even fully sure what happened, it was so bizarre. Maybe it had all been a weird stress dream…except he knew he was awake. Musing on it out in the cold wasn't doing him any good, he may as well head back inside. Just as he turned to do so, the crunching of snow made him look up. Sai was standing there—hadn't he just left though?

"Sai? What are you doing here? Didn't you leave with Sakura-chan?"

"You're a clone…" Kakashi observed. He was very worried about Sakura, and a part of him had wanted to go after her, but leaving Naruto under the circumstances wasn't an option. He hoped Kiba, Lee, and Sai were keeping a close eye on her, and judging by the presence of Sai's clone, he seemed to be concerned about Sakura's actions as well.

"I wanted to relay to you the truth that Sakura tried to but wasn't able to tell you earlier."

"The truth?" Naruto asked.

"What do you mean?" Yamato asked confused.

Kakashi sighed. He may not have always been able to tell when Sakura was lying, but he was pretty sure he could recognize when she was hiding something. "I knew something was up…"

"Sakura didn't just come here to tell you she loves you and was worried about you." He didn't even bother trying to explain that when she first told him she loved him, she was trying to imply something else that was an actual lie. "She came to announce something that she and her Konoha classmates had decided."

"She was acting weird…" Naruto muttered. "Well, it's not like she's never hidden stuff before, but she's usually a lot smoother about it…And she promised she wouldn't do that anymore. She's been pretty open with me for a while! Why would she backslide now?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't approve of her choice at first, but I get it now…why she couldn't tell you the truth…" Sai murmured, his eyes cast to the spot of ground to his left.

"What truth? Tell us, Sai." Naruto ordered seriously.

"Your classmates intend to dispose of Sasuke themselves."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, before narrowing dangerously, a feral look on his face. Yamato's jaw dropped, while Kakashi closed his eyes, his jaw clenched under his mask. He highly doubted Sakura would have agreed to that.

Naruto was of the same mindset. He grabbed Sai's shoulders, shouting furiously. "And Sakura-chan?! Did she really agree to this?! I don't care what she just said—Sakura-chan loves Sasuke! There's no way…"

"Sasuke will plunge this world into darkness. If we let him live, he'll spark an international war. He's just another criminal now. And after suffering the Akatsuki assault, no one in Konoha has any sympathy for those allied with the Akatsuki…nor do they have the strength or resiliency for an international war. Sakura's no fool…she's not a child who doesn't understand the situation or what the circumstances are."

"You're right! Sakura-chan always understood the situation with Sasuke better than anyone. She was the one who knew to be there the night he left. She was the one to pick up there was more going on with Itachi, and how Sasuke wouldn't have seen any other option. She'd never just dismiss him like you're saying!" Naruto spat fiercely.

"Sakura is very empathetic…I know this. I've benefited from it. Probably more so than I deserve. But empathy can only go so far. There's a line, and Sasuke's crossed it. But that's why she came all the way here. To be the one to tell you all that."

"Then why didn't she just say it?!" Naruto demanded, shoving away from him in frustration, still unable to believe Sakura would agree to kill Sasuke.

"Because Sakura is empathetic." Sai stated again, slightly forlorn. "She understood better than the rest of us how this would hurt you. She hoped by telling you she gave up on Sasuke, and expressing her care and worry for you, it would release you from the burden of the promise between you, but you insisted on still saving Sasuke—probably like she knew you would. That's why she couldn't tell you. She knew what you would say, and wanted to be considerate of your feelings."

Naruto's hands slid from Sai's shoulder, staring at the ground. It seemed impossible to refute—it was the most Sakura thing he'd ever heard, hiding something for the sake of his feelings. But he just couldn't believe that Sakura would give up on her love for Sasuke.

"Actually, Sakura asked us all not to tell you anything. She even went so far as to make us promise. She wanted to be solely responsible for telling you…she must have felt it her duty."

Yamato's brows furrowed. "Sakura would definitely be able to predict Naruto's reactions, but that means she never intended to tell Naruto the truth from the get-go. What's she planning?"

"This is just my conjecture, but I suspect—"

Kakashi cursed quietly, his eye squeezed tightly shut. "She's planning on killing Sasuke herself, on her own. Shit!" Why would someone so smart do something so stupid?! But he should have foreseen something like this. She hadn't been acting like herself, her volatility and impulsivity at an all time high during their last interaction when she discovered Danzo was now Hokage.

"That…is what I suspect, yes." Sai agreed, thinking back to his attempt at conversation with her during one of their forced breaks on the journey there.

"That's a lie…" Naruto whispered raggedly, still staring at the ground. "Sakura would never do that—would never consider it! She loves Sasuke so much!"

"And I believe it's because she loves him so much, that she can't leave Sasuke to continue progressing towards evil. It's because she loves him, that she wants to save him from the path of darkness. Even if the only way to do that is to kill the one she loves by her own hand. That is what she has resigned herself to do…as punishment for having fallen in love with him in the first place. And she's prepared herself for you to hate her. That's why she wanted to be the one to tell you, and the one to carry it out. So you'd hate her instead of any of the rest of us. She considers it her atonement for forcing a lifelong burden on your shoulders. Sakura relied too heavily on you in the past, that's why she's determined to do it herself this time."

"Who the hell put that idea in her head?!" Naruto shouted, his knuckles going white, before releasing as he shoved Sai hard. "Was it you?! One of the others?! Shit! It's the other way around!"

Sai blinked in bewilderment. "…What?"

"Sakura-chan never relied on me! I relied on her, when she was already carrying so much by herself! No one ever stuck up for me before her. No one cared for me the way Sakura-chan did, loud and openly with expectations and anger when I didn't meet them. And yeah, there were people who cared about me before her, but I didn't realize that. Sakura-chan was the first one I knew cared about me, so I turned to her for everything: Answers, explanations, strategies, attention, validation, comfort, admonishment…She had so much going on, but she never once relied on me for help with any of it! So, as upset as I was when Sasuke left…I was happy that she actually asked me for help. For the first time ever…and when I couldn't keep the promise, she immediately tried to take it back—not because she blamed me, but because she was worried and cared—and I was the one who insisted on upholding it. I wouldn't let her take it back, because I wanted her to rely on me! Even then, she still insisted we do it together…which was fine, but I wanted to show her—I still want to show her she can rely on me! I'm still going to keep that promise to her!"

"But…you love her…and she loves him…doesn't it hurt?"

"Of course I love her! She's Sakura-chan! She's so pretty and smart and kind, how can you not love her? Part of what's so lovable about Sakura-chan is how strongly she loves. Sasuke, her mom, me…She loves so fiercely. It's just who she is. If you don't accept and love that, you don't love her."

Sai had never been more confused in his life. "So…her loving Sasuke doesn't hurt you?"

"No!…" but Naruto realized that wasn't quite true. "Yes!…" But…that also wasn't quite true, and now he was getting confused. "That's not important right now!" He rubbed an irritated hand through his hair. "Why the hell are you telling me this?! Didn't Sakura-chan make you promise not to?!"

"Because…it wasn't my intent, but it was me who put that idea in her head and pushed her towards such extreme action. And Sakura…I can't just leave her be, either, because I'm a member of team 7 too…and also…Sakura…" Sai trailed off, unable to find the words for what he was feeling. Ironically, Sakura was probably the one who could help him most with that.

"Has helped you a lot, and you feel guilty that this is how you've repaid her?" Kakashi filled in evenly.

Sai nodded. That sounded about right. Guilt seemed to be a fitting name for the gnawing at his stomach. After all, she'd helped him reconnect to his emotions, and he'd called her a curse mark.

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, the image of genin team 7 in his head slowly beginning to crack and shatter in front of him. He brought his hand up to his face, feeling his eyes beginning to burn, when the hurried crunch of snow caused him to look up.

Gaara and his siblings were rushing toward them, and panicked expression on his normally stoic face.

"Naruto, Kakashi…" To Gaara's growing dread, Sakura was not with them. "What happened to Sakura?"

Kakashi's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, what happened to her?"

Gaara opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to voice his question. Luckily his siblings had grown to respect and care for Sakura as well.

"When did you last see her?" Temari asked seriously, her knuckles going white around the base of her fan.

"Fifteen minutes ago." Yamato answered looking between Kakashi, and the Kazekage's group.

"I'm actually a clone." Sai piped up. "My real body is with her right now."

All three sand siblings seemed to relax. Gaara closed his eyes and breathed in for 4 seconds, held his breath for 7 seconds, and slowly exhaled for eight, feeling his anxiety calming. "She's alive…" He breathed in relief.

"Why would you think she wasn't?" Kakashi asked sharply, eyeing Gaara with growing alarm.

Gaara finished another meditative breathing cycle, before meeting Kakashi's gaze, his stoic demeanor back in place. "There's something you both need to hear. We're going to tell you what happened at the Gokage summit."


Sakura followed Kiba as the four of them headed toward the southern boarder of The Land of Iron. The sleeping tonic she'd brought weighed heavily in her pouch. She needed to be very careful and smart about how she played this. She had a feeling Sai was onto her.

Sakura slowed to a stop, watching the others backs in front of her until they realized she wasn't with them. The three boys turned as one to see her gazing sadly at the ground.

"Sakura?" Kiba questioned hesitantly. "You okay?"

"…I'm sorry…can we take a break…I just…"

The three boys exchanged looks before moving closer to her.

"Sakura-san…perhaps it would have been better to tell Naruto the truth?" Lee ventured carefully.

"There was no way I could have told him. Absolutely not…"

"Sakura, I think you're underestimating Naruto…" Kiba admonished gently.

"You're overestimating him!" Sakura shot back so viciously, Kiba actually took a step back. "You think you know him that well?! That boy went off to fight Pain alone to save the entire village! He nearly broke when we couldn't get Sasuke back on that last mission! He traded some of his own life to resurrect Gaara-kun! He nearly died trying to bring Sasuke back the first time! He refused to break his promise to me no matter how many outs I gave him! Naruto doesn't abandon someone he calls a friend! No matter what it means for him, no matter the cost to his own life. Telling him I, and all of his friends have abandoned Sasuke…which means abandoning him…Sasuke is lost…and if absolutely everyone turns on him, Naruto would feel alone. I thought maybe…maybe if I could free him from the promise and stress how much I'm with him, he'd be able to hear it. But he fought me. He wouldn't be able to cope with hearing the class decision to deal with Sasuke ourselves." Sakura's voice was shaky, oscillating between anger and misery within single sentences. Her eyes were trained on the ground, pained and broken.

Kiba and Lee seemed to soften at her explanation. She was Naruto's teammate, not them. They knew they would both counter sharply if Sakura claimed she knew better how to approach Shino or Neji with troubling news then they, their teammates. Sai, knowing now what his clone knew, and how Naruto had responded to the truth, knew he firmly agreed with her. There was no way she could have told Naruto the truth. He wished he hadn't.

"Hey, why don't we go back home. We should check in with Shikamaru anyway, before going after Sasuke…he'll can assemble a team more suited—"

Sakura shook her head. "We are suited to taking Sasuke out. Three taijutsu specialists with a prioritization on speed will overwhelm his Sharingan, and Sai can give us midrange coverage while cutting off escape roots from above. I can also drop back to mid-range as well if need be to provide further coverage for you and Lee. We're well suited to taking out Sasuke." She repeated tightly.

"Yes, but fair Sakura-san, we all know how hard this must be for you. There are other teams that would work as well. We should head back—"

"No! We're doing this now, before I change my mind. I just…need a minute to gather myself."

Kiba's eyes softened, and he put a comforting hand on the top of her head. "Alright. Let's take a break."

"Thank you…" She murmured softly, looking up at them with sad eyes. "I'm sorry…I've been…kind of rude to you three…"

"Nonsense, fair Sakura-san! We haven't been bothered!"

"Lee's right. We all know this is hard on you. None of us expected you to be warm or happy about it…it'd be creepier if you were." Kiba said.

"Still…it hasn't been fair to you…" Sakura bit at her lip, her expression sad and guilty. "Let me make us some food, it's been a while since we've eaten…"

"Yeah, alright. I could go for some food." Kiba agreed warmly. "Do you want any help?"

Sakura shook her head. "No…I need some time to think."

"A meal made by fair Sakura-san!" Lee cried joyously, his face flushing.

Kiba grabbed Lee's arm, dragging him away, and muttered something that sounded like "keep it in your pants, Lee."

Sai eyed her suspiciously. This seemed real. He didn't think she was lying. "Sakura…"

"I'm sorry."

He blinked, unsure of why on earth she would be apologizing to him of all people. "For what?"

"Before, when you tried talking to me…I was kind of snippy, with that curse mark comment."

"That's not—"

"I appreciate what you were trying to say. That you've picked team 7 over Danzo and the Root, and that you're trying to be a friend and build those bonds with us. Thank you. For caring, and worrying about Naruto…and offering to be there for me. I'm sorry if you felt discouraged or dismissed. Sometimes…sometimes people aren't receptive to support even if they need it. If you're met with that, keep trying. Give them a bit of space, but then come back to them. They'll need it."

"Why are you speaking this way?"

"What way?"

"Like you're leaving and not coming back."

"Shit…too obvious…"

Sakura and Sai stared at each other for a long moment, before she sighed. "Well, it's not what I was going for, although you never know who will make it out of the battle with Sasuke-." Sakura shook her head, again only having just managed to bite back the honorific. "I guess…I just feel like I've been failing as your social etiquette and emotions teacher. I kind of left you hanging…"

"I don't think a major attack from the Akatsuki and subsequent medical crisis counts as leaving me hanging." Sai informed her, matter-of-factly. He was silent again for a long moment. "Shouldn't you be angry at me?"

"Who says I'm not?" She said tiredly. "Besides it's not like you were wrong…the truth hurts sometimes."

"I've seen you angry." Nothing about her currently read as angry to him. "And I was wrong." With his clone's knowledge, he knew just how wrong he was, but even without it, his observation of her earlier conversation with Naruto made it abundantly clear that he was wrong, even if it was confusing.

Sakura sighed. "Maybe…" She didn't sound convincing. "Sai?"

"Yes?"

"This is one of those moments where I need space before support."

"Oh…okay." Sai hesitated before walking away, settling down at a tree and opening a sketch book, eyeing Sakura as she went about gathering food. He didn't believe that she was okay, had forgiven him, or that she believed him when he said that he was wrong. But he did believe that her current plan was for the four of them to attack Sasuke together.

As soon as Sai's back had turn her sad resignation switched back to blank calculation. She knew she couldn't go far or take too long with ingredient gathering, or they'd think she ran for it. She had to keep close and keep the act up, until she managed to slip the sleeping agent into the food, and they ate it.


When Gaara finished filling them in, Naruto was staring at him in abject horror.

"Sasuke thinks Sakura-chan is dead?!" He sounded absolutely panicked, because he was. Having learned about the Uchiha curse of hatred, and how strongly they loved, Sakura being killed by Konoha was the absolute worst thing Sasuke could think. His sharp plummet into darkness was suddenly making crystal clear sense.

"That's how Madara got to him…the truth about Itachi wasn't enough. He must have still wanted to go back to Sakura, just like she always said, so Madara had to add her death by Konoha's hand in to manipulate him. Of course, Madara wouldn't tell us that part." Kakashi muttered darkly.

"But…Isn't it good then? If Sakura-chan's gonna try to go to Sasuke, once he sees her alive…won't he come back?" Naruto asked weakly.

"I wouldn't put too much hope in that…" Sai murmured. He hadn't known. Hadn't realized. He thought Sakura's devotion to Sasuke was one sided and foolish. He'd been surprised when Naruto had said Sasuke was notably different with her, gentle with her. But needing to think Sakura was dead to push him into the arms of the Akatsuki…That meant Sasuke hadn't thrown away the bond as he had claimed to when Sai was trying to infiltrate Orochimaru's ranks. "I only met him once, but it was evident how distrustful he was. He wouldn't believe something just because someone said it. It would take a lot of convincing."

"It would take a body." Kakashi agreed grimly. Despite being informed that he was now to be acting Hokage for a united war against the Akatsuki, this aspect of Gaara's story was all he seemed able to focus on.

"But Sakura-chan's alive! How could Madara have showed him her body?" Naruto demanded, still unbalanced from all the revelations of the past half hour.

"There are ways. Even just a henge jutsu on a different corpse…" Yamato muttered. "But would that be enough to convince him?"

"If Sasuke had any semblance of consciousness when Sakura went with Madara to heal him—maybe he saw her, or felt her chakra, or even managed to say something to her before succumbing to his injuries and passing out…and then woke up and she wasn't there. Madara tells him she's dead, he doesn't believe him. But Sasuke know's Sakura. Knows she loves him, and how dedicated she is to a patient's health. He's not fully healed, so Sakura should have been there with him, but she wasn't. So he still doesn't believe Madara, but the circumstances fit the story he's being fed, and then Madara shows him the body…if all of this came after when Madara talked to him about Itachi, he may have been shaken enough to buy in right there." Kakashi laid out, seeing the circumstance all too easily.

"But to convince him Konoha's responsible?" Sai asked.

Naruto, Yamato, and Kakashi exchanged a glance. If the doubt and mistrust in Konoha had already been planted by what happened with Itachi, convincing Sasuke that Konoha could and would turn on Sakura wouldn't have been too difficult.

"He probably framed it like she broke orders or defected to go with him and heal Sasuke, making herself a rogue nin to be taken out." Kakashi muttered darkly. That manipulative bastard.

"But still, once he sees her truly alive…" Naruto tried again fighting to hold on to his tiny sliver of hope.

Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai all looked at him with varying degrees of stoic resignation. It was clear to them the encounter could go one of two ways, and none of them were willing to place money on Naruto's way.

Kakashi sighed, forcing himself to shelve his complete worry over Sakura and Naruto, to focus on the part of him that was a shinobi through and through. "And then there's the other matter. I'm not too hot about being named Hokage…and…even with circumstances being what they are…" he winced at that, but hoped he would somehow be able to find Sakura and talk her back to sane choices on the way back home. "I still need to report back to Konoha and discuss all of this with the others first."

Now assured Sakura was still alive, Temari, ever the pragmatic strategist, had shifted her focus back to the imminent war. "Madara announced that he was declaring war. We don't have all the time in the world!"

"I don't think it'll take long to get everyone's consent. So let's proceed as if you've already been confirmed Hokage." Yamato agreed, pulling himself back to his shinobi side as well, rather than the team captain highly concerned about his breaking team members. "Since it if the Akatsuki or Madara were to strike first, it'd be way worse to have to go on the defensive because we were so slow to respond."

"Well…we don't know that yet." Kakashi really didn't want to be Hokage, least of all during an active war. "And then there's the matter of Sasuke…" His stint in his shinobi side had truly been short lived…he was too worried about Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. At least he knew he'd truly learned the lesson he'd been so dead set on teaching…he couldn't keep his head or heart from abandoning his team for longer then three minutes.

"Naruto…" Gaara speaking for the first time in several minutes. "I'll have you know this is also a war to protect the eight and nine tails, namely, you. So for the sake of the Shinobi world, as the Kazekage, and as your friend, I will protect you at all costs. And if…If Sakura is unable to make Sasuke see the light…if he continues to ally himself with the Akatsuki and stand against the allied shinobi forces…I will not show mercy." As he stared at Naruto's crumbling expression, he recalled how…unhinged and lost to darkness Sasuke had been at the summit. "The Uchiha Sasuke who attacked the summit…he doesn't see you anymore. He only seeks further darkness." Gaara reached out, placing a firm and bracing hand on Naruto's sagging shoulder. "Naruto, you once told me you would become Hokage one day…Well, I've become the Kazekage. If you truly have the resolve to take on the mantle of a Kage, then you must do what needs doing, as Sasuke's friend." By the sound of it, Sakura had already reached that conclusion herself, though she'd never expressed any desire to become Hokage. It was just classic Sakura, to be so far ahead, in some of the hardest ways. Empathizing and forgiving him while he slowly crushed her to death, trading some of her own life after killing an Akatsuki member to restore his own while in severe pain, and resolving to do what she had to, even if it meant killing the one she loved. If Sakura ever had wanted to, it would be a tough call between her and Naruto for the Hokage mantle.

"Gaara…" Kankuro called. "We need to get home to start preparing."

"Hatake Kakashi," Temari addressed, "Suna will proceed as if you will be confirmed Hokage. As an ally nation, we just ask there not be any confusion in communication."

"…Understood." Kakashi affirmed. He really didn't want to be Hokage.

Gaara didn't move yet, watching his friend as he slowly broke apart. "Naruto…I consider you a friend. Before, friend was just a word, nothing more, nothing less. But after meeting you, I realized how important the meaning of that word was. And I know exactly what I would do and how far I would go for my friends. You must decide for yourself what you can do for Sasuke." Gaara turned and caught up with his siblings feeling a painful ache for both Naruto and Sakura.

Quiet descended on the four of them, Naruto facing away, his shoulders sagging, while the other three tried to remain calm and logical in an ever muddier situation.

"So…what now? We must return to Konoha to relay what happened at the summit to the others…and we need to discuss Sakura…" Yamato said, looking towards Kakashi.

"I'll stay with Sakura, and try not to let her get close to Sasuke, so please leave her to me for now."

"It would be better to go talk her down in person and bring her back." Kakashi stated. That's what he really wanted to do, Hokage and incoming war be damned. Not very shinobi of him…but he thought Obito and Rin might be proud.

"All right! Yamato, you take Naruto and head back to Konoha. I'll go talk to Sakura." He should have been doing that at least three times a week, even if he had to pull her from patients to do it. "She won't be able to kill Sasuke in the state she's in right now. It's a deathtrap. But the summit information is too important to wait, so I'll send Pakkun with the news right away."

"Understood." Yamato agreed, as Kakashi summoned the ninja hound and relayed the necessary information before sending him off.

Once he straightened, he turned to Sai. "Lead me to where Sakura is."

"Yes sir." He agreed.

Their attention shot to Naruto when he suddenly collapsed to his knees. He was clutching his chest, his breathing coming out harsh and rapidly.

"What's happening?" Sai asked, in uncharacteristic panic.

"He's hyperventilating!" Yamato cried, kneeling to Naruto's left, while Kakashi knelt to his right.

"Naruto, you need to calm yourself." Kakashi said firmly, saying words and a tone typically saved for Sakura during one of her attacks. But Naruto fell face forward into the snow, his breathing cycling into his lungs too rapidly. "Slow your breath Naruto!" But Naruto was not Sakura, and not used to panic attacks. He didn't know the grounding and breathing techniques she had burned into herself.

Naruto didn't know what was happening. Everything was spinning. Everyone's distrust and hatred of Sasuke ringing through his head. His chest hurt. He couldn't seem to breathe enough…or maybe it was too much? The world around him tilted and whirled in white and whispers against Sasuke, and then his vision went dark.


"How far are we?" Sakura asked not long after they were half way done with the rice, rabbit, and garlic leeks, she'd cooked up.

"Not far. I can smell Sasuke and that Tobi guy toward two o'clock from due north. Roughly one kilometer ahead. We should get going." Kiba stood, swayed, and plopped back down. "Whoa!"

"Kiba! What's wro—" Lee promptly flopped over, asleep, followed by Kiba. Akamaru let out a tired whine before curling up to sleep next to Kiba.

Sai only had time to shoot her a wide eyed stare before he too was out.

"I'm so sorry." She murmured, making sure each of them were covered with their cloaks so and close to the fire so they wouldn't catch hypothermia.

And then she took off. She had to talk to Sasuke.


Sai and Kakashi were rushing along the path Sakura and the others had taken, moving as fast as they both could. After helping move Naruto back into the Inn, with Yamato's promise to watch over him and take him back once he awoke, they couldn't wait much longer. If Sasuke attacked the summit, he likely was pretty close, which meant Sakura would likely reach him very soon.

Sai's clone suddenly listed sideways. "Something's wrong! They're up ahead—two o'clock due north, two kilometers from here. Hurry!" And that was all he managed to say before dissolving into a pool of ink.

Kakashi picked up his pace, his stomach plummeting. "…pretty gutsy move, Sakura…" He'd have been impressed if he wasn't so worried.

Sakura skidded to a stop in front of a crumbling bridge, missing a section entirely. And on the other side of the missing section, stood Sasuke, standing over the red haired woman she'd tailed on the last mission, his hand crackling with the Chidori. He raised his chidori, ready to plunge it down into the woman.

"Sasuke-kun!"

His chidori hand froze.


Authors note: Okay, so...I felt like the bridge events needed its own chapter, so we're getting lead up. First major change is actually showing Sakura dealing with the medical fall out of the attack. In the manga/anime we don't see what Sakura's doing in the aftermath, other than her sitting in the tent with Tsunade. I think it's Shikamaru's light novel, or maybe Sakura's where he's reflecting on the moment they told her they wanted to kill Sasuke, and he mentions there that Sakura looked very tired back then, so I wanted to stress that. I know a lot of people hate this entire arc because they feel everyone acts out of character in it, or back slides to their most annoying state. I'm taking the approach that no one is making sound decisions. Sakura is completely exhausted and emotionally isolated. She isn't thinking straight. Naruto is depressed, unsure of how to break the cycles of hate, and lonely because everyone's busy with reconstruction, healing, or are injured. He's not making the best decisions. Kakashi only just recovered, not even fully, was immediately roped into defense and reconstruction, and then is pulled in multiple directions as both his kids are going through it, and in active danger from Danzo. He's doing his best, but their are no right choices for him. Sai doesn't understand emotions or relationships, knows he wants to help, is worried about Naruto, and in a drastic misread, says all the wrong things to Sakura-and immediately regrets it. He can't make good decisions. He doesn't have the tools too. And Shikamaru is trying to make the responsible ninja choice, and knows there's no way to do it without hurting Sakura. He tries to do it with as little blame on Sakura as possible, only taking the approach of how grim the future is, and also tries to remove the responsibility from Sakura to be the messenger for Naruto. He's fully prepared for Sakura to hate him, which he doesn't want because she's one of his best friends. He can't make a decision that is both responsible as a shinobi, and a good friend to Sakura and Naruto. And Sasuke's losing it. So everyone is making the worst possible decision. The love confession...that I know people were always up in arms about, but honestly, I never had a problem with that scene, because it was Sakura making a bad choice out of extreme empathy. But this Sakura...she's a great liar and actress, but I think the one thing she couldn't fake is loving someone she doesn't. She does love Naruto, but it's not romantic, and while that's her initial attempt with the confession, she quickly abandons it. And Naruto knows she loves him (not romantically). He's confused about his feelings for Sakura, because his love for her isn't romantic, but he does have a minor crush on her, and that's confusing. But he knows she loves him. Pretty much, Naruto and Sakura are both convinced that the other is carrying too much, and so they're trying to shoulder the Sasuke burden so the other doesn't have to. Also want to make it clear, in this, Sakura's plan isn't to kill Sasuke immediately. She wants to talk to him, since Itachi's gone, and she doesn't know the truth about him yet, she thinks she stands a chance at convincing him. She's only considering killing him if that violently doesn't work. I also never liked how Sakura ditched Kiba, Lee, and Sai in the manga/anime. It worked but it felt a little obvious, like she gave herself away. So I wanted her to be more clever and sneaky with it. She's a skilled liar and actress. I think she'd use that for all it's worth.