Three for the Price of One

by AFrozenDuck

When Sasuke unexpectedly shows up to demand Sakura for a mission, he gets more than he bargained for. The bonds of Team Seven have long spanned time and distance, but will the strain of an unpracticed team be enough when everything goes inevitably wrong? Sakura-centric. Canon-divergence AU.

25. Chapter 25

His Sharingan spun rapidly, soaking in the coarse refract of lightning igniting in Atsuhiko's pale eyes as Sasuke drove forward, fist charged and outstretched, intent on the dead God walking.

The man had left himself wide open. And it would be his last mistake.

Anger and adrenaline propelled him the final inch, victory a hair's breath away. And then he caught the God's triumphant smile. Remembered too late why his heart had been screaming at him to stop when his head had told him go!

Vivid lush green eyes entered his vision. A body placed between. A terrible reprise of their terrible past.

He couldn't stop.

"Sakura!"

Lightning exploded with a snap of stark colour and chocked silence. Sakura gripped his wrist with ease and wrenched it skyward, striking the ceiling where he otherwise would've... would've –

There was a sizzle of skin against his and Sasuke dared not blink as she regarded him with cool indifference, seemingly ignorant of the fate he had almost dealt her, of the way nausea slashed at him saying 'look... Look at what you do to her'.

He drowned in her cool gaze, not yet courageous enough to look beyond them… To see the evidence of 'almost' written up the length of her arm in raised flesh and twisted burns.

A wounded hum rattled his chest. Then he was sent soaring.

Sasuke didn't object to the eruption of pain centring at his abdomen and propelling him backwards; Sakura's strength stealing air that had already departed him in panic.

He landed clumsily, feet-first against a free-standing wall, and dropped soundlessly to the ground. He spat out a mouthful blood and got up under unsteady feet, horror slamming into him harder than Sakura's fists as he frantically darted his eyes back to her, dread locking him in place.

No, no, no… Sakura –

Fear and loathing made a jumbled mess of his mind as Sasuke stared frozen at her, whole and alive – no thanks to him. His legs almost dropped out from under him at the sight; at her reflexes to be faster than fucking lightning.

He had almost killed her.

Again. His mind whispered cruelly.

His hand trembled, held stiffly at his side. Kakashi's scream lingered in the hollows of his ears. The silence of the aftermath was deafening, and against all odds Sasuke felt weightless in his shock. As though he were no longer tethered to anything, disbelief merging with regret until detachment was all that remained in self-defence.

He shook as he studied Sakura under intense dual-toned eyes, memorising her blindly as he breathed in her image.

She's okay. She…saved herself.

He didn't realise she had moved; didn't notice the way the God had crowded around her – too busy obsessing over every shred of proof he was no good for her – until suddenly her face was covered by another's. He watched, recording the exact moment Sakura sealed her lips to that man in a searing kiss.

Disgust and shock kept him rooted to the spot as she melted into Atsuhiko's arms, her hands clinging to his dark robes as he snaked his arms down her back and through her hair. A hum of satisfaction came from the God as he deepened the kiss, his poisonous hands gripping her jaw and angling her just so. Then, there was a flick of tongue.

Sasuke heard a strangled whimper escape Sakura's lips – !

With a jolt, he moved. Only to stop when Sakura was ripped from the God's arms and pulled into Kakashi's. He blinked, unheeding of the penetrating spin of his Sharingan, the spasm of his burning hand.

There was gasp from Sakura, a mighty flare of chakra from Atsuhiko and then a muted curse from Kakashi as he briefly cradled her to his chest, before letting go to dodge her responding punch. The man jumped back several feet until he was right beside him, hauling Sasuke from his locked position as Sakura stomped into the earth and threw a piece of it at them.

Adrenaline kicked back into life and he leapt to the right with Kakashi as the slab of concrete smashed an entire column of stone from the structure of the site, a heavy groan following and brittle pieces of brick raining down.

"She's still in there." Kakashi hissed, dark charcoal eyes running over Sakura's combative stance. "She's still fighting." He glanced at him. "But she can't keep fighting him if she's too busy fighting us."

Sasuke swallowed roughly, anger rapidly clogging his too dry throat. "Nothing short of killing her is going to take her out of this fight."

Hadn't he already proved this? Hadn't he come close enough?! Would Kakashi not be satisfied until one of them had truly killed the other?!

This hand burned in shame, hot spikes of guilt which sent Sasuke almost wishing Naruto had removed both his arms if only to keep him from hurting them, again and again.

Ire sparked in Kakashi's eyes as the man reached to fist his collar. "How many years, how many lives have you wasted if you don't know how to use your damn eyes to save a teammate!? What the hell is the point of your strength then, Sasuke?"

The words struck Sasuke just as much as they appeared to torment Kakashi, a soreness flashing in his twin grey eyes.

"My, my." Hummed Atsuhiko from across the upturned room. "Aren't you an impressive little mortal Sakura, to have two men fight so furiously for your attention."

Sasuke tore his attention back to see Atsuhiko glide towards Sakura, his fingers outstretched to trace the lines of her slim shoulders. It was then that Sasuke saw the smooth expanse of an arm exposed under a charred and withered sleeve, her unblemished skin sparking relief alongside his shame. He glanced away only to see Yukine float into view, eyes shrewd as he lingered on the edge of interfering.

Atsuhiko sighed, lips tilted in thin amusement as he appraised their stilted standoff.

"You humans are such pitifully flawed creatures. Dirty, selfish, vermin." His disdain echoed as he continued to gently run his hands over Sakura, though his eyes never left them. "You should be grateful that I will so graciously embrace your kind. To take up my mantle as King of the Rats and hold dominion over this world as none before it have seen. Such is the kindness of your God."

Sasuke searched for the blade at his hip and curled his fingers loosely around it. Atsuhiko laughed at their silence, a curve of delight in his lilac gaze.

"Well?" he mocked, smile sharp. "This is the part where you get on your knees. Where your race belongs."

Atsuhiko dragged his fingers through pink hair, pulling lightly to drag Sakura closer and plant a soft kiss on the crown of her head. Sasuke briefly spared Kakashi a glance as the man leaned forward, his eyes darting from Sakura then back to him. Fury simmered brightly under his skin, and Sasuke let familiar anger rise before conquering its strength with learned experience.

"I'll get Sakura to you." He said, his hand falling off the hilt of his katana and sliding his eyes to his former Sensei.

The stare that met his own was firm, and Sasuke chose to believe that it was trust that lined his grey depths.

"I'll be ready."

He didn't know when precisely he had fallen back into battle intuition with Kakashi, but all too soon Sasuke knew what his Sensei was about to do, just as he knew how he would use it to benefit him.

With a nod, Kakashi slammed his hands together and a thick coat of mist blanketed the area with near invisibility. Sasuke keep his feet light and chakra supressed as he stole along the perimeter. As Kakashi launched forward in a blue and white blaze, electricity lighting his position in sharp sparks, Sasuke zigzagged across the terrain towards Atsuhiko, fingers braced over metal.

There was a muted snap of light and a grunt as Yukine intercepted Kakashi, and Sasuke was only seconds behind as he let his Shurikenjutsu fly towards Atsuhiko. He caught the subtle hint of delight on Atsuhiko's lips a fraction before Sakura swiftly leapt forward to seize the airborne jutsu, green eyes alight in the thick fog.

But this time, Sasuke was ready for her.

His Rinnegan burst to life with a twist, and suddenly where his Shurikenjutsu had been but inches from Sakura's skin, now Sasuke was. Jade eyes widened in shock as Sasuke used his momentum to capture her around the waist and drive her against the nearest half-standing wall, pinning her there.

He vaguely heard a sharp grunt as Kakashi caught his Shurikenjutsu and redirected it once more towards the God, but Sasuke only had eyes for Sakura.

A whoosh of air left her lungs as he pressed her harshly against the broken stone, capturing her wrists and trapping them between their chests. Sakura squirmed, her eyes furious and downcast as she began cycling chakra to break free. Then Sasuke swooped down and pressed his forehead against her own.

"Sakura." He hissed harshly, desperately, the sounds of a battle still raging at his back.

The woman beneath him stilled, and only then did Sasuke allow himself a selfish moment to turn his head against hers, nudging her cheek with his nose. The intimacy of the action didn't escape either of them it seemed, as even Sakura heaved a stilted breath; the chaos around them fading from their senses.

She was alive, she was alright, she was here under his hands. She was finally close enough to calm his agitated soul. Sasuke absently brushed his thumb over her caged wrists as he breathed into her jaw. The images of Atsuhiko's touch were burned so perfectly into his mind he couldn't help but try to physically erase the act from Sakura's soft skin.

"Sakura." He repeated quietly, letting his nose trace her cheek once more in selfish repetition.

Barely a handful of heartbeats had passed and yet the moment stretched, and Sasuke could hardly manage the energy to focus beyond her surreal nearness. Only when she began to struggle against him, did he tighten his hold on her.

"Please." He whispered, letting the corner of his lips brush faintly against her jaw; longing and loathing churning until they were one in the same.

It happened in a flicker. Bright emerald eyes shot to his as Sakura sucked in a startled breath, and in the next moment, he had her.

---

"Where is he?"

Sai blinked and the world shook.

Plumes of smoke tickled his throat and scratched his nose as its thick heat coated his slick skin. He thought he heard the sound of his brother's voice – rough and alarmed – but all he could see were painted blurs; muted smudges of yellow against shades of grey and specks of brown. He blinked again but his lashes became heavy and matted with the movement. His third blink sealed his eyes shut.

Something wet and sticky trickled from his temple and down his jaw, it's warmth at odds with the slow shivers wracking his body. He was covered in it – blood – he realised faintly. His blood, and it had blinded him for the time being. He took a deep breath and pain swarmed him alongside a rush of memories, ending with darkness.

Sakura – !

Sai jerked, and only then did his restraints become apparent. The cut of invisible chains sent sharp bites through his tangled limbs, and he had to fight for consciousness when his brain determined such encompassing pain to be overwhelming.

Naruto's voice echoed dully in his ears once more, and Sai extended his neck to the left to strain for clarity of sound, his sight an unreachable sense.

He didn't know where he was, he didn't know what had happened. All he knew was that he had to get Naruto's attention. Sakura needed them. She was –

A whoosh of air grazed his cheek as a figure was flung in his direction, its mass thudding against the wall at his back and rendering them motionless. Sai took a sharp inhale and smelt the stench of rot through the smoky haze. He furrowed his brows, flexing stiff fingers for a weapon or mobility of escape.

"What have you done with him? Where is Sai!?"

The demand came from his brother and Sai tried not to let confusion consume his limited cognizance. He couldn't see Naruto. But surely Naruto could see him?

A laugh answered, twisted in pitch and form. It came from below Sai, to the right.

"You're not very good at hide and seek, Demon Fox." The voice mocked, "Ara-chan is the best at hiding though. Genjutsu is cheating, but she's a good cheater so I don't mind."

A clumsy spike of chakra rippled through the air as Naruto attempted to lift the illusionary technique, a rough curse following. And Sai allowed his situation to click into place.

He had failed his task, that much was obvious. Sakura was still within the confines of that God's influence, and now he had become a hostage to be used against his team. He had become a burden upon his family.

Insecurity and shame edged at him, and he clenched his jaw at the dizzying sensations sweeping through him. Now was not the time for such sentiments.

A roar of bodies meeting in battle resumed and Sai twisted his wrists against the cutting binds holding him in place. Pain increased with each movement and he fought it until his breath became short and heaviness began to tug once more at his limbs.

Blood loss, Sai concluded succinctly, disorientation curling slowly around him. I have to…

A deafening pop of an explosion overcame his senses as another small tremor shook the earth, sending his body swaying as heat and debris rained upon him.

The tear of skin and slow ooze of blood was all Sai achieved before he fell into unconsciousness once more; the hook of disgrace clogging his throat before he could even think to call his brother's name.

---

Naruto skirted to the side and braced as an explosion erupted to his left, bodies flung in different directions with the violent shake, only to lever themselves back up with missing limbs and flayed skin to march on.

The swarms of people around him rose and fell in waves – crashing upon his clones in a relentless push and pull. They were endless. Another hundred bodies felled, another hundred summoned to replace them. No ground was covered, nothing was gained, nothing was truly lost. It was simply the dead fighting the shadows, and Naruto didn't know what to do.

He closed sapphire eyes as a limp body charged at him, his kunai splitting easily through their greying skin as they flailed on his knife-edge.

The hordes of people were fighting with irregular weapons, and rigid taijutsu, unimpressive except for their numbers and resilience against death. They were almost nothing like the people he had fought at the seal. Those nin were alive – at least they had been for a while… Until death claimed them as Hansai's.

Now, the bodies he was fighting were just that; bodies. Shells of potential, husks of the past, forcibly uprooted and strung into brittle soldiers. Whatever they had been in life, death – Hansai – had twisted them into grey imitations. Wrong was the only way Naruto could truly describe it.

Maybe it had to do with the quantity – maybe it was the way he had to keep butchering them to the bone just to put them down. Or maybe it was the fact that this time it wasn't just ninja he was facing. It was civilians, women, children. And Kami why were there so many children?

It wasn't skill which challenged his advance. It was something far more insurmountable.

The reality before his eyes turned his stomach, and Naruto had never felt less like a ninja, less human than when he had to cut down the bodies of those children.

Dead children.

Revulsion burned at him, blurring the line between anger and anguish.

There was a shift to his left and Naruto sidestepped the arch of a farming scythe, letting the blade of his kunai slice straight across a teenager's neck. He held back a howl when the dead boy merely twitched and swiped at him once more. Naruto jumped back, ducking under the rigid swing, his grimace hidden behind the cold stone wall he had to erect to keep his crumbling resolve in place.

He paused as a shiver traced up his spine – three of his clones vanished, filling him with memories of a gruesome death by beheading. He glanced at the place they had once been, where a behemoth of a man was swinging a wild and heavy axe in his lumbering gait.

Guess Hansai can manipulate even non-combative civilians into dangerous weapons. Naruto thought grimly, releasing his kunai to snap the boy's neck with his bare hands on his next ceaseless advance.

Naruto shucked a breath, his hands beginning to tingle with the brutality of it all. That tremulous breath threatened to turn savage as the teenager he just maimed righted himself again and came at him with a twisted head, the gleam of strings at his back mocking him. Something feral sparked within him and Naruto let Kurama bubble briefly to the surface to tear the kid's teetering head from his bony shoulders, the repulsion of the act shouldered by the beast within.

He came back with a gasp, Kurama's voice skating along the panes of his mind as red receded from his vision.

"Never mind the rest, Kit. Just focus on finding ya friend. Focus on the freak who started it all."

The chaos of decay around him folded into the back of his awareness as Naruto armed himself with Kurama's instructions. He had tofind Sai. Hansai had said that woman had concealed him, and no matter how hard he tried to dispel whatever genjutsu had been set, he couldn't find him! He grit his teeth as he resigned to the fact that he would have to wait for Yamato to deal with Ara before he could search Sai out. As it was, he needed to stop all of this horror at its cause.

Hansai.

The whistle of a shuriken struck past his ear, as Naruto moved forward, eyes locked unto the swaying man. A shroud of chakra distorted him, just like the last time and Naruto thinned his lips as he took another step, the cooling burn of a Rasengan forming in his palm. He needed to get close enough to Hansai to be sure he wouldn't accidentally hit Sai in the crossfire. He needed to take down the freak from right in front of him.

"How does it feel Demon Fox?" Hansai shouted, hysteria flushing his shrill voice. "Do you like playing with the dead too?" He licked dry lips. "I wonder, does it make you feel more like a Hero or a Monster?"

Naruto took another step and Hansai twitched his pinkie. In an instant, a host of bodies descended onto his position, coming from all angles. No weapons, no jutsu, just pure physical obstruction as they rattled down upon him. It was instinct that he raised his Rasengan laden palm to cut through the masses; his hand sliding through their flesh as easy as passing through water.

Gore licked at his tanned skin as organs tore from torsos, and jaws flew from faces; the specks of blood flicking against his clothes a terrible violet. Crunches and squelches rode the undercurrents of his hissing chakra as bone parted at his touch with horrific ease. It was with a fierce growl that Naruto emerged, two hands alight with twin power, and took another heavy stride forward.

There was a high-pitched giggle and in the next moment, a wet pop went off at his right, it's sound a chilling gurgle. And Naruto had to smother a flinch when the memories of seven dead clones informed him of its source. One of the missing-nin puppets had just expended a mighty Fuuton Hurricane, and the jutsu had ripped her body apart from the inside out. Horror was but a flicker against his wrath as Naruto shot a murderous glare to the man responsible.

"I think only a Monster could play with them the way you do…" Hansai said reverently, a tilt to his head as he politely corrected himself. "The way we do."

Kurama rose with the affront, and Naruto found himself reaching back for his beastly strength. Glints of movement caught his attention as a cluster of bodies flit into his periphery. A snarl parted his lips, and his next step dense with restrained chakra as Naruto pressed forward, power pooling at his fingertips.

He saw the intrigue on Hansai's face a moment before the freak pitched sideways with a chuckle. Naruto made to dodge as a wall of fire came from his right, the locked limbs of the caster leaving them open to attack just as their jutsu tore violently from their body. He had a moment to spare faint sympathy before a tremor sent him stumbling as the earth beneath his feet began to shift and sink, the Doton technique signalled by another gruesome pop to his left.

Within seconds, three clones jumped to his aid, two of them pulling him free of the suffocating earth while the third intercepted the scorching flames with a bitter end. Naruto didn't think as his clones propelled him into the air, his hands already alight and ready.

Only to be met with the smug stare of Hansai.

The explosion that knocked him out of the sky was immense, wiping out a vast majority of his shadow clones in a singular strike. His heels clipped sharp rubble as he fell, thudding gracelessly onto his back as he choked on the intense blast. He tucked and curled as smoke and ash blanketed him, fighting for breath through spasming lungs.

He startled as something sharp and angular fell across him. And Naruto had to hold back his gasp at the sight of a little girl falling upon his prone figure, bony fingers burying into his stomach. She looked at him with empty eye-sockets and stretched grey skin. A dirty orange bow sat limply on the side of her withered skull, tufts of blonde hair just visible beneath layers of decay and grime. She couldn't have been older than five.

Despite the heat of the charged air, Naruto found himself feeling cold to the bone as he met her empty stare. She was just a kid.

Then, she twitched backwards only to reveal the kunai she had snagged from his pouch. His surprised lasted less than a heartbeat when she was suddenly driving the weapon straight towards his right eye.

Kurama didn't let Naruto see what happened next.

All he saw when he opened his eyes was the girl's frayed orange bow lying discarded across his lap. The small spots of purplish brown fluid against the material were all but impossible to ignore, matched as they were to the flecks against his bare, trembling hands.

---

Yamato wiped his brow free of the rain and sweat that had come to gather there, drenching him in cold exhaustion.

Harsh wisps of ice stung his eyes and skin as the storm continued its dance across the overturned clearing. His opponent flickered her tawny eyes over him in shrewd assessment as she withdrew the decorated katana at her hip, her short swords now but pieces of shattered steel in the snow.

He eyed the florets of bruises colouring her bared stomach in violets and indigos, the dampness at her crown dyeing amber hair maroon; and Yamato knew he hadn't gotten off any easier.

Deep gashes lined his frame from shoulder to calf where he had taken his fair share of hits from her slippery kenjutsu and genjutsu combinations. Already his fingers had begun to ache, his chakra burning from relentlessly swapping between dispelling her illusions and throwing offensive and defensive counter-measures.

Yamato licked the back of his teeth. He was having to fight himself as much as he was having to fight Ara; her orientation distortions a troublesome adversary in itself.

His only consolation appeared to be her souring mood; the leanness of her tall figure bunched in irritation as she stood half-dressed in the middle of a snow-bitten thunderstorm in the early hours of pre-dawn.

"Given up yet, Baby?" She challenged through gritted teeth, water and frost clinging to her exposed skin.

"I could ask you the same." He called, palming his pouch to do a quick inventory of his weapons. He twisted his lips when he counted only three kunai, one exploding tag and some ninja wire.

"I admit, I'm rather tired of our little pissing match. Wouldn't you rather take a nice stroll with me down memory lane? I'm simply dying to know you, inside and out." She teased, an edge of a smirk pulling her lips.

Yamato almost sighed as he prepared his chakra against her genjutsu. "If we could skip the part where we both waste chakra on delusions, I'd be most appreciative. As it is, I don't have the time to waste on you."

"Oh?" She lilted, as though amused. "Is that dismissal I hear? You got something more important than your own life to take care of?"

"I have five of them." Yamato replied simply, drawing his thumb over the spool of razor-sharp wire.

Ara's shoulders rolled back, her head cocking to the side. Her golden eyes sharpened then fell from him for a fraction of a second, her expression turning halfway wistful.

"Noble." She murmured to herself.

And when her flaxen pools locked unto him once more, Yamato was ready.

---

The pitch black of her mind's prison became awash in muted reds and whites, and suddenly she could speak, she could move. As though unchained, Sakura wrenched forward.

Her steps were stumbles as she ran towards the only other figure now occupying the corner of her cognizant mind, and Sakura couldn't contain her utter desperation to hold on to her only lifeline.

"Sasuke-kun!" She cried, relief and anxiety slamming into her just as she slammed into him.

"Sakura!"

He caught her around her middle, his arm tightening around her, and Sakura could almost sob at how real he felt. He was here. He was alright. He was an absolute idiot to have come! Just as quickly as the thoughts surged, a fresh panic replaced them.

Sasuke drew his hand to her shoulder and pulled her back, a deep crease to his brows.

She hardly had the time to see the crushing relief in his eyes before she was gripping onto him, urgency overpowering all. "S-Sai!" She chocked, still feeling his blood as though she were wearing it. "I-I… Atsuhiko h-he made me... I tried to – "

Comprehension dawned into a grimace on Sasuke's face, and Sakura didn't realise her lip had begun to tremble until he was pressing his thumb to her chin, his voice a steady comfort. "…Naruto's got him."

She shook her head, the sting behind her eyes undeniable, even here. "I couldn't stop… He didn't let me stop."

Her hand burned from the weight of his tanto – Sai's own weapon which she had used to cut ribbons into him. The same blade which she had taken up a second time to slice into the very man before her. She witnessed every moment of it, lived every second, powerless as she remained to do anything about it.

She had become her worst fear – the reason her friends suffer, and may very well die. Except this time, it wouldn't be her weakness that killed them, it would be by her own hand – her strength. A cause for pride so easily turned into an avenue of annihilation. She wanted to claw at her skin, if only to rip her power apart from the outside in.

She – she… wanted nothing to do with her strength.

A sob welled up in her throat a second time and Sakura found herself shuddering.

"He's going to make me kill you all."

Sasuke's thumb swiped over her chin and she felt him tense. "Sakura… I'm sorry but I need to keep you knocked out until this is finished."

She didn't register the heavy pain in his voice, only frantically shook her head as she looked up in firm protest. She cast the tears from her eyes, the fear from her heart. This was her only chance.

"No. It won't work Sasuke. I… I'm an extension of Him now; his will." Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, the freedom to say the words a bitter mercy. "My actions, my chakra, they're His. If you put me in a genjutsu, he'll just break it. If you knock me out, he'll wake me. As it is we only have a short amount of time until I'm forced to break this one."

His frustration was easy to see, easier to feel as he dropped his hand to her shoulder and squeezed. "Then how – "

"I'm supressing him best I can here." She answered. "This is the only plane of my mind unreachable for his corruption. I just happen to be stronger of will than he thought." The words could've been triumphant if not for the trepidation pumping through her veins.

Sasuke set his jaw, eyes hard. "What can we do then?"

Sakura fought not to bite her lip as she met his stare, her spine steeled. "I need you to hurt me."

"What?"

Perhaps if the circumstances were different, she would've giggled over the way Sasuke's expression fell completely slack, utter discombobulation lining the panes of his handsome face. But the situation was far from amusing, even despite how much of Sakura wanted to laugh hysterically in the face of her own self-devised 'solutions'.

Kakashi is going to have an aneurism over this one. She could almost smile, but she withheld her cynical humour, if only for Sasuke's sake.

She knew she was asking something far greater than she had ever requested of him before. In a painfully ironic sort of way it just so happened that he was the best person for the job… the only person who had ever come as close. His rich eyes were burning into her in a mix of disbelief and betrayal and Sakura drew up her courage to ask of him the extraordinary. He was her only chance.

"Make me bleed out, Sasuke. Please. If I can rid my body of his blood long enough to gain control again, I'll be able to heal myself anyway."

The logic was sound, if in a very idealistic way. She just hoped Sasuke couldn't read her the way very few others had learned to over the years – couldn't see her pragmatic guarantee for disaster wrapped up in science and confidence. If she had the time, Sakura might've mourned her own consolation that the boy she spent years devoted to, wouldn't recognise her in the same way. Yet here she was, asking of him something she trusted few else to achieve, fewer still to endure.

The man before her twisted his lips, his brow furrowing impressively. "No. It's too risky." He determined, turning his gaze away as he glared at the incorporeal floor. "How do you know that won't just make you more susceptible to him in your weakened state? What if you're wrong?"

Sakura licked her lips, keeping her thoughts hidden even as they stood within the planes of her very mind. "I have to try."

Sasuke snapped his head to her and then she was under the heat of his direct glare. "No, you don't." He spat, gripping her shoulder tighter. "There has to be another way damnit! You can't ask me to… to – "

"I know, I know." She drew her hand up and wrapped her fingers around his, beseeching. "I'm sorry Sasuke-kun. I'm sorry that I have to ask this of you, but I can't do it myself. He blocks any self-inflicted injuries, I've tried."

Sakura immediately regretted her words when she saw his eyes widen.

"You – "

"We don't have time for this Sasuke!" She rushed, using both her hands to pull his towards her chest, and gripping him firmly. "You have to. I'll be fine, I promise."

She had to believe that anyway, otherwise what was even the point? She could never forgive herself if she actually let him kill her. She could never allow herself to die in front of her team. She wouldn't give Sasuke another reason to run. Or Naruto a single reason to despair. Or –

Oh Kami, Kakashi cannot bury another teammate. I won't allow it!

No. The only option was survival and success. She would not be used and she would not fail. She just… needed a little help getting there.

Sakura didn't realise Sasuke had further closed the distance between them until she looked up and saw his face inches from her own, a deep frown marring his expression as he hovered above her. She sucked in a silent breath and waited.

Then he was trailing two fingers across her forehead. "Your seal…" he murmured, "It can heal you, right?"

Sakura bit her tongue, hard. Her Byakugou was bone dry. She wasn't even sure how much chakra she had at the moment, let alone if her damaged coils and compromised core could handle any serious manipulation of her own. As far as she knew, she had been siphoning off Atsuhiko this entire time, her impaired network likely only still functioning through their damn connection. The thought still haunted her; the what if's laying just beyond the reach of her freedom.

What if she wouldn't be a kunoichi on the other side of all this? What if their bond was the only thing keeping her alive? What if it was the only thing keeping him alive?

Sakura tore from the thought and bit her lip in grim consideration. Last resort, she promised herself silently, keeping her eyes cast from Sasuke's searching gaze.

"Sakura." He stressed, his hand now crested at her neck. "Can it heal you?"

No. It couldn't.

But she couldn't afford not to try. Not when it could mean her teammates dying at her hand instead. She wasn't sure how much longer she could holdout. It had taken all her willpower to simply resist summoning the Pomegranate when she was repeatedly asked. And yet none of that willpower had meant a damn thing when it came to being forced to hurt her friends…

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and smiled at him. "Yeah, my seal can heal me."

The lie tasted bitter on her tongue. But she had to solace herself with the truth of the matter – this was the only way.

Sakura blinked when she felt Sasuke gently thread his hand through her hair at her nape, the action so tender she didn't even notice as he brought his lips to her forehead and planted a firm kiss there.

"Don't you dare fucking die."

The act barely breached comprehension as Sakura stood dumbfounded in Sasuke's embrace, thoughts wiped cleanly from existence as she felt the burn of his lips on her skin. She didn't realise she had come to clutch his shirt until he was pulling away and she was left swaying; unbalanced against relief, guilt and surprise. His hand remained firm where it cupped the back of her neck and Sakura held her breath against his burrowing stare, as though he was waiting for something.

Sakura forbade herself from crumbling and gave him the only thing she could. Gratitude.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

In the dark depths of her mind, they stood tethered to one another in silent preparation as they clung to the last moments of stillness. She didn't feel his shift of movement, didn't register the sound of steel as he withdrew a kunai from thin air.

Sakura knew nothing but the warm intensities of Sasuke's dual-toned eyes as he drove his blade through her stomach and pierced her through.

---

"Oh? That is unexpected. How… cruel."

Kakashi jerked at the amused observation floating from the false God. Atsuhiko remained lounged against the collapsed stature of his throne as he lazily watched the chaos unfold around him, hardly a spec of dust muddying his pristine onyx kimono and long bound silver hair. The image was infuriating as ever, and Kakashi had to consciously snap himself back into focus to avoid the deathly strike of Yukine as he drove a palm towards his solar plex. It was only once Kakashi had danced himself out of reach did the God's words register.

He ripped his gaze from Yukine when the man himself straightened and frowned after something in the near distance.

And that's when he saw it.

He saw Sasuke's hand clutched around steel and buried to the hilt in Sakura's abdomen as crimson bloomed against white.

The image didn't compute, even as his heart leapt into his throat and his stomach dropped out of him. His chest was on fire, his body was cold, and suddenly Kakashi was back on that damn bridge watching his students attempt to kill each other, except now, one had succeeded.

"Sakura!" The roar ripped from him, primal and desperate.

He was standing beside them in the next second, Sasuke propping her up awkwardly against his body as she collapsed onto him, hand still holding the damn kunai wedged in her torso.

Kakashi searched for rein of control as his hands hovered over their entangled bodies, hardly knowing what he could possibly do to make the situation any less of a nightmare. Sasuke's eye was blood red, his hand twitching on the hilt of the kunai and Kakashi was torn between screaming at him, sitting him down, and throwing him to the other side of the world.

He didn't know what happened, where it all went wrong. He prayed it was all an accident, thought he ought to consider just how Sasuke must be feeling, how perfectly he could relate. But the cynical, depraved side of him whispered 'this is your legacy. This is what happens when you love.'

"Don't pull it out." Kakashi heard himself order, voice harsh where his hands were shaking.

"I have to." Sasuke grit out, coarse and hitched as his knuckles became wet with Sakura's blood. "She asked me to."

Kakashi's eyes widened and the thought occurred to him that it was Sakura who deserved all his ire and resentment in that moment. He wanted so badly to shake and shout at her, but all that came out was a chocked, "Stupid girl."

In a blink the kunai was on the floor and Sakura was gasping and clutching onto Sasuke as her body registered the damage done. Ever so slowly, he shifted her over to Kakashi's waiting arms, her light weight a terrible burden.

Kakashi watched through grief-stricken eyes as Sasuke stroked her hair once, twice, then without taking his gaze of Sakura, whispered, "Look after her."

The moment her body sank into his arms, was the moment Kakashi forced himself to look properly at her, regretting ever letting her leave his arms in the first place. Her long pink hair was mussed, smudges of ash dirtying her rosy cheeks and mirroring the spill of ruby over her torso.

Kakashi quickly placed his hand over her side to staunch the blood flow and jerked in alarm when she groaned and wheezed. Their eyes met for the first time in days and the brief flash of recognition in her glassy lime orbs almost broke him. He had to hold fast when next she gave him a pained dazed smile.

"S-stupid Sensei…" She mumbled, halfway conscious, halfway teasing. "I'm starting to think you took that e-escape thing a little too casually."

So wrongfully unprepared he was for her response, he could do nothing to stave off the huff of air as he sunk to his knees with her. "Well you can blame my students for their ridiculous sense of loyalty."

"Pot meet kettle, 'Kashi..." She refuted softly as her head lolled.

They both heard the scratch of metal as Sasuke withdrew his katana, and Sakura arched as she followed the sound to stare helplessly after him.

"You shouldn't have come." She croaked, fear overruling her voice, as pain wracked itself through her body.

Then Sakura was sent writhing as erratic spikes of chakra echoed from one end of the room to the other, her connection to that man undeniable even as she regained parts of herself. The intent lavender stare of Atsuhiko met their gaze as his eyes preyed upon her with dangerous attentiveness.

Kakashi curled over Sakura and pressed his palm firmer over her side. "Nothing would've stopped us." He told her, grappling to keep her awake and focused on him. "I promised I would get you home, remember? You just need to have a little faith in your second-favourite Hokage, ne?"

"…Atsuhiko." She called confusedly before recoiling in torment, further words lost to her as she weakly twisted and thrashed.

Fury ignited back under his skin but Kakashi buried it under control and priority. "Sakura? Hey." He urged, frowning when she merely looked past him.

He tried calling her name again, but she didn't answer, and Kakashi could do nothing but cling onto her as her gaze stayed rivetted to the pale amethyst of her captor.

---

Atsuhiko shuddered as he watched the silver-haired man lower his little mortal to the ground, hands fretful, eyes fearful. He felt her whirling panic; could pick out the darts of confusion, determination and pain as she struggled within the arms of another. Parts of her called out to him, in desperation and apology as she arched out of the Rokudaime's reach, a second before she fell back resolutely into his grasp; her struggle endearing.

He let the moment play out, intrigue lining his shoulders as he watched her futile battle, wrestling between her will and his. Atsuhiko was vaguely aware of the Uchiha as he peeled reluctantly from his Woman's side, rage as red as his bloody eyes.

In truth, he found the instance to be a rather entertaining turn of events. Frightfully unexpected for the Uchiha to have damaged her in such a brutal way. A truly horrific transaction and aftermath for one whom claimed to hold no such bonds to the Woman – the perfect example of the Uchiha's unworthiness of her. But Atsuhiko held a smug inclination that it was in fact his favourite little mortal who had forced the Uchiha's hand. His clever little Sakura.

Oh yes, he enjoyed the torment she was able to inflict in the multitudes among the Rats. She was breathtakingly savage in her strength, and all the more devastating in her fragility. He suddenly felt a swell of pure affection of her, as she lay sullied in her own blood on the grimy floor of his earthly palace.

His pride and praise warmed her, he could see it – the way she writhed and turned towards him, emerald eyes alight with need as she called his name. The sweetness of her voice was made sweeter by the wrath it ignited in the men gathered around her, and Atsuhiko couldn't help but further indulge in his pleasure with her.

She had surely earned her place at his side with her paradoxical humanity and godlike gifts. And while Atsuhiko yearned to gather her back into his embrace and ply her with instructions to heal and succumb – he found himself itching to prove his worth to her.

His little Sakura had been putting on a remarkable show for him, it was high time she bore witness to his own unapparelled ruin. And she now held the perfect seat – dipped in her soon to be brief mortality and watching as he put the Uchiha in his rightful place; on his knees before her, before them. Atsuhiko smiled to himself, even as the Uchiha lifted his dirtied blade between them in challenge, apparently eager to be shown his inferiority.

Yes. He would illuminate to the Rats his divinity. And only when the Uchiha was face down in the filth, would he finally ask Sakura of the Pomegranate and they would ascend together. As one.

Atsuhiko took a step forward and drew his fingertip to his mouth, piercing the skin until he bled. With a curl of anticipation, a twist of his gold chakra warped and elongated mixing with his blood until he held the tool of mortals in his palm – a katana made from his own sacred blood. It was a skill he had discovered in his own time as a young man – a peculiar ability that he once held no use for in the land of his brethren. To form weapons from nothing but his blood and will, was yet another example of his inane Godhood. Violence and bloodshed were so… human after all.

But here, such talents would surely be rewarded with the rightful respect and position of utmost power. His sword's weight felt right in his smooth palm, and he took great satisfaction in feeling Sakura's surprise from across the room.

Lilac eyes flit to hers and he recompensed her reverent awe with a fond smile. "Won't you watch me perform for you, Sakura?"

Atsuhiko only had eyes for her as she sucked in a careful breath and struggled against her jerky nod.

"Good girl." He praised, earning an incensed glare from her once-companions. "Don't heal yourself just yet, Sakura." He said to her widening eyes. "Sit nice and tight for me, my love."

There was an unsteady gasp that followed his command; the Woman's pink brows drawing together sharply with the cold order as he all but guaranteed her expiration. For without his intervention, without him she was but another example of humans and their brevity.

An uncanny growl of hatred escaped his would-be opponent then, and Atsuhiko supposed his match was drawing to a start. With a fleeting glance at his precious little mortal, Atsuhiko affirmed his stance just in time to meet the aggressive warfare of his foe.

When he drew his Blood Blade up, it was to meet the screech of steel as the Uchiha sailed towards him in a fit of craze, godly eyes spinning wildly and soon to be his. It was exnihilating, if in the mildest sense. Although he could attribute a great deal of his excitement to the way he could feel Sakura's powerful pulses of confliction echo within himself.

He heard her stifled gasp as though she were next to him, and Atsuhiko spared her a reassuring grin as she panted through her mortality, eyes cast in clear distress. A twinge of sympathy, long forgotten and nary-used plucked at him, but he brushed it off with cool satisfaction, just as he brushed off the Uchiha.

For now, he could afford to let her bleed a little, cruel as it cemented him. After all, Atsuhiko never claimed to be above paltriness, and his little mortal was not exempt from punishment of her earlier headaches. For while she was undoubtedly endearing in her humanity, even soon-to-be-Goddesses needed to learn their place.

Besides, it would be the last time she would feel such impermanence, he would make sure of it.

---

Kakashi curled desperate fingers around pink locks as Sakura's head lolled in his grip, his other hand quickly soaking up the blood that just wouldn't stop. It was a slow but steady flow and he found himself in the awful situation of helplessness yet again when it came to all things Sakura.

"Come on, Sakura. I need you stay with me, okay?" Kakashi pleaded, as her eyes fluttered open and closed as if undecided. He freed his fingers from her hair and grabbed one of her hands, pressing her palm over his own on her side. "You have to keep fighting him. You have to try to heal yourself." His fingers tightened over her limp hand. "Please try Sakura."

"I see foolishness is a trait inherent in your shinobi, Rokudaime."

Kakashi twitched and glared up at Yukine as the man stood above them, like a vulture awaiting the death of its prey. He snarled when he couldn't spare his hands – he would tear the man apart with his teeth if he had to – Sakura taking up every square inch of his priority.

A shrill clap of thunder roiled through the air as bright light illuminated the broken space; the storm still raging into the early hours of the morning. Yukine's empty eyes flashed like black stones in an underwater cave – void and bleak.

"I did warn you, Hatake."

Kakashi licked the back of his teeth, his contempt palpable. "So this is where your honour truly lies then, Yukine-san? Fighting for a man whose every intention condemns humanity as slaves to a corrupt power."

Yukine merely tilted his head at him, his broken hand now carefully wrapped in a length of his dirtied charcoal hakama and held carefully at his side. The man looked worn, from the slight disarray of his raven hair, to the tightness lingering at the corners of his mouth.

Kakashi turned from him at his silence, hands adjusting to take more of Sakura's blood. "I guess it's a good thing you like your cages so much, Yukine. You've just guaranteed us all a place in that cage with you, like the so-called Rats we are."

He didn't wait for Yukine's passive reticence, already shifting Sakura to untie her thick obi. He locked his jaw as blood pulsed without his careful pressure, and swiftly retied the heavy band firmly over her side, packing the wound with as much material as he could. He ignored the vivid patches of blood that bloomed so brightly against her white kimono as he replaced one hand back at her torso and the other supporting her head.

"Your sharp words do little to hide your fear, Hatake. And do less still to hide Sakura-san's."

Kakashi paused at Yukine's utterance, a sharp slither of hope poking at his skin. "You can feel her…?" He caught the man's dark eyes. "You can feel how hard she is fighting against this war you forced her into. You can feel her struggle for freedom?"

It was a pointed remark, adapt as Kakashi had become in using his words to provoke the stoic man.

True to nature, Yukine remained still and unrelenting for a long moment, until. "Is it not you're your Shinobi's way, Rokudaime, to suffer for the sake of another man's gain?"

There. The crux of it all. Inexplicably, Kakashi let sympathy fleece into his voice. "…Sakura doesn't have to be Sen, Yukine."

He saw the flash of violence in Yukine's cool depths before he seemingly smothered it with aloof exhaustion. He wouldn't claim to know the man well enough for such inference, but Kakashi spared a moment to note the lowering of hostility, if even for a moment.

"I will not fight you, Hatake." Yukine granted, quiet and aloof. "But I will not help you either."

The statement was unexpected, and against his better judgement Kakashi let loose the sharp words that craved to wound the man as accurately as he did him.

"No, you'd much rather watch the show, right? Comforting yourself with the fact that it always was out of your hands. You want to spend your life hiding behind the emotions of others, just so you never have to face the reality of your own."

The rebuke was soft despite everything, and Kakashi allowed himself precious seconds to stare the Sensor down, unsure precisely when they had managed to get under each other's skin so deeply.

Yukine said nothing to that, merely lifted his chin in Sakura's direction as she let out a stifled whine. "She will bleed out before she can overcome his hold over her." He said softly, "Spend your last moments wisely with her, Kakashi… Time is something you both scarcely have."

As though his words sparked awareness, the ache of his pathway tear drummed back to life at his side, it's chakra leak a deadly one. At once, Kakashi had the dreadful realisation that Yukine never had lied to him.

He set his chin and let his vision rest upon Sakura, silently praying to anyone listening that they'd take him instead of her.

Obito, Rin, Minato… Dad… Please, don't let it be her.

Kakashi stifled an uneven breath as he sat with Sakura's body carefully propped against his, hands pressed in blood, wondering when his grief had skipped him straight from denial to bargaining.

---

Yamato let the genjutsu roll over him, gentle and warm as it was. It only lasted a moment. But that moment was enough to loosen his muscles, calm his racing heart, and send his senses into a swell of unexpected peace.

He stood motionless as his life passed him by in bright colourful streaks. Those precious moments of colour in an otherwise grey life. Flashes of Team Seven; the joy on their faces, the happiness in their eyes, the warmth of their voices washed over him.

"Taichou! Did you see? Did you see! I did it! I didn't rely on Kurama at all! I – we… Man, I'm never letting you go, Taichou. Believe it! Damn… I'm so glad you found us…"

"Yamato-taichou, there you are! You missed our team dinner. Don't worry, I made sure to fight some left-overs from Naruto, the Baka. Oh! And I managed to barter you some walnuts from the market for later. Only the best from Taki-san's stall rest assured, he owed me one for taking a look at his infected toe… Ne, so long as I have you, you wouldn't mind sitting nice and still for a check-up for me, would you?"

"Thanks... For taking care of Naruto and Sakura…"

"Why the face of surprise? You didn't actually expect me to forget your birthday did you, Tenzou? Your lack of faith wounds my poor old heart. And here I thought we were close friends... Guess I should return your gift."

"Senpai. Here. Ino set me a project of painting various people and places as part of our ongoing expression-therapy. Today's task was to paint my role model, the person I most look up to. I think it turned out well, and would like you to have it. I believe I captured your integrity in the lines. Your kindness was the hardest to get right, but I hope I did you justice, Senpai."

It was over before it began and Yamato had half the mind to regret what he was about to do as he let his fingers close around steel.

Ara's katana swung viciously at his neck as he dispelled the genjutsu and ducked to palm the ground, rolling away from her attack. The woman grunted as she missed, her feet becoming trapped in hidden wire as he looped and pulled it taut around her ankles and tugged her sideways.

She barely had the time to regain her balance before Yamato disarmed her lashing katana with a harsh kick to the forearm, using her shock to lace the ninja wire around her arm next. He ducked behind her and pulled, eliciting a sharp screech as her arm was wrenched backwards, sending her half tumbling.

He was back in front of her before she could even turn, her eyes wide as she caught sight of the kunai aimed straight for her head. She twisted her heels into the snow and flinched to avoid the projectile when her back was suddenly met with the hardwood of a tree.

A muted thud sounded as the kunai wedged itself into timbre at her head, but by that point Yamato had already looped several more yards of wire around her figure, binding her to the tree. With a final burst of speed, he slapped an exploding tag on her chest and jumped back.

There was a strangled gasp, then silence.

Yamato stood slowly from his crouch, almond eyes dark and hard when he met Ara's uneasy gaze. Her left arm was twisted and trapped at her head, confined painfully against the fir tree, while her right was bent behind her as she stood half heaving, half frozen where he left her, katana lying discarded and unreachable in the ruddy snow.

Puffs of white air materialised at her lips as she stared at him. "Why am I still alive?" She hissed, anger carefully covering the tracks fear left behind.

Yamato paused, his answer alluding him as much as his reason. He didn't know how to explain that he couldn't kill her while he relived those memories of his team. It didn't feel right, it wasn't right to take a life with their warm presence echoing in his mind. He didn't want to tarnish such precious memories with blood.

Many would call him soft. But Yamato had learned long ago to embrace his smoother edges. Those same broad expanses which he carefully honed to bridge and shelter all that he had once coveted… all that he now holds dear.

"Why did you show me that?" he asked instead, critically watching the way her frown deepened at his tone.

She made a move to struggle against her bonds and froze when she remembered the tag at her chest. It would only take a small flare of his chakra to activate and suddenly her glare turned jeering.

"People should know what they're leaving behind when they die. They should know what they'll never get to see again. One final glow before they're forever snuffed out." She sniped cruelly, face upturned and muscles coiled.

He stared at her, soft confusion creasing his brow. "That's merciful."

"It's cruel." She tried to correct with a sneer, but it fell flat in the face of his accusation.

"Why would you try to give me a peaceful death?"

Ara's face screwed to the side and then she snorted, though the heat of her flaxen eyes never lessened. "Call it a whim."

"I'll call it what it is." He said softly, "Compassion."

Tension slithered back into her bound frame as she stared him down. "There isn't a man alive who deserves such a thing from me."

"Then who did you do it for?"

As though the storm itself acknowledged the question, the clearing stood still; a brief respite bestowed upon them by the elements themselves. Through the charcoal and indigo bruised sky, Yamato could almost make out the first rays of dawn peering through; a new day at their doorstep.

"If you're going to kill me then hurry up and do it!" The edge to her voice softened as she finished, "You're wasting time the Princess doesn't have."

It was Yamato's turn to falter, her words surprising him even as she fiercely kept his eyes. Compassion poked at him, but it was overruled by concern. He had to get back to his team. They were his priority.

His fingers itched as he reluctantly moved to make the final seal when a massive explosion, the likes of which he had scarcely witnessed, rocked the area. He heard Naruto's rough yell as fire ballooned aggressively out from the rubble and into the frosty open. A shockwave sent him flinching several steps back as the earth shook with its magnitude, his hand coming up to shield his face from the intense heat and debris shooting from the fortress.

Then, as swiftly as it appeared, the explosion subsided, an eerie calm blanketing the area in numb silence. Dread traced its icy fingers up his spine and Yamato took a panicked step towards the rubble that had come to collapse into the sloshy earth, his worry for Naruto and Sai increasing with every passing moment.

Then heard the muttered grunt of Ara from across the clearing.

His eyes wrenched towards her to find a small dagger palmed in her right hand as she cut through the ninja wire and flew towards him. With a twitch, Yamato completed the seal for the exploding tag the same time Ara realised it was still attached to her. He saw the whites of her eyes as she stared frantically up at him, and in the next second a scorching shockwave sent them both propelled to opposite ends of the icy field.

Once more the earth stood still, it's silence broken only by the deep rumble of a storm not yet said its piece. Yesterday held it's grasp firmly over the land as rain once more picked up in tandem with snow; the cold waltz of winter twirled forth by the wind.

Yamato grunted as he wedged himself upright in the sooty slush, ears ringing and the wind knocked out of him. Disorientation hovered in his periphery and some vaguely alert part of him warned that it could be genjutsu again. With a groan, he lifted to his feet and carefully staggered towards what he thought could be Ara's body, lying haphazardly on her side from where she was tossed against the side of a tree.

He crept forward, bending to pick up her katana and curling his hand firmly around it as he reached her figure. His eyes caught the patch of red blood darkening the snow around her, and then flickered up to the twisted oak which mirrored her blood.

He reached for his sluggish chakra and sent a wave to dispel whatever illusion had been laced around him. And when nothing changed, Yamato took a deep breath and nudged the woman's body with the toe of his boot.

Nothing.

He distantly heard another cry coming from inside the dilapidated building and refocused his attention on ensuring Ara was truly taken out of the fight. He cautiously crouched and turned her over. Much of her front had been singed, if not badly burned from the exploding tag, but it appeared the greater damage had been dealt by the subsequent blast and shockwave. Blood trailed heavily from her head, and her already colourful torso was rapidly darkening, no doubt from the heavy hitting blunt force trauma.

His fingers drifted towards her neck and Yamato let out a deep, terrible sigh.

---

He couldn't breathe.

Smoke had come to blanket the ceiling, bones lay scattered over the floor in wet piles, and between existed all that had his stomach turning. Bits and pieces were largely all that remained of the thousands of dismantled bodies, and yet somehow that still qualified an army.

And Naruto was sick of killing the dead.

Wetness stung behind his eyes as he let his Wind Release shred several people to pieces. He didn't want this anymore. He had to dismiss his clones after a while; after realising that every time one of them died, not only did he relive their death, but every death at their hands. At his itching, shaking hands.

Kurama had tried to convince him it wasn't really killing, but Naruto wasn't so sure he could agree. It felt like killing enough when he had to physically tear each body apart just to ensure they wouldn't get up again. And it killed him to have to relive that a thousand times over, from different angles, in different ways, all with the same inevitable ending – his own death.

Of everything he'd faced over the years, this somehow felt unconquerable. What could he do? He felt like a fraud. He felt sick. He felt stupidly glad that he couldn't see Sai.

He… he didn't want to see Sai's face when his brother saw what a true monster he was.

"You're not a monster."

Naruto sniffed as three bodies imbedded themselves deep on his kunai, only for him to cleave them cleanly in half, and then half again.

"Please… Just s-shut up, Kurama." He said wetly to the Fox, dropping his kunai when it became stuck in the spine of a young boy.

There was an awkward shuffle of movement to his left and Naruto sidestepped the dense wave of water which tried to engulf him, frantically scrambling back to get away before –

The wet squelch of yet another ninja being turned inside out from their own jutsu sounded clearly through the air, and Naruto found himself once again spurted in gore.

Something rattled unevenly in his chest as he quickly tried to wipe the sticky fluid from his face, not even Kurama's rough urges soothing his heightened breaths and rushing adrenaline.

"Come on, Naruto. You're almost there. Think of ya friends."

He didn't want to. He didn't want them to see him like this. Didn't want to know what they'd think of him, covered as he was in –

"They're not so easily swayed, Kit. They're your friends."

Naruto shook his head and wiped his nose. He had to keep going. He had to find Sai, then get Yamato and rescue Sakura-chan. His team needed him.

Naruto blinked and brought his hands up only to freeze when none came to challenge his advance. It took him another moment to realise that the area had been silent for several long seconds, movement long since ceased, the final body felled. Only when the cackling reached his ears did Naruto register that he was standing in a sea of limbs and organs, an eerie stillness enfolding. He didn't dare take a step, the sticky wetness under his sandals stalling him as much as his own reluctance to comprehend what he'd done.

Another harsh sound traced goosebumps across his flesh and Naruto drew cerulean eyes up to meet the wild silver of Hansai. Abruptly he realised it wasn't laughter that echoed through the stale air, but a deep wailing… like the broken cries of child.

"You took them all away?" Hansai wept, grabbing fistfuls of his sandy hair. "You killed all my friends. Every last one I had…"

Naruto's spine drew straight at the chilling spike of killing intent erratically flaring of Hansai. Sanity had been coming off the man in chunks, and Naruto had the unsettling thought that much like he felt the death and loss of each clone, perhaps Hansai felt the visceral loss of each of his 'friends'. It was disturbing as it was sad, and he was beginning to understand that that was an unfortunate disposition of the man's very existence.

"You didn't let even one of them stay with me… Y-you Monster!" A feral scream tore from Hansai's throat with deafening agony, chakra shooting out from him in multiple directions in a thick shroud of palpable anger and pain.

With a start, Naruto leapt high into the air just as the pall of chakra strings shot straight towards him. He desperately raced higher, pressing himself into the crevasses of the crumbling ceiling as they threaded into an elaborate net of razor-sharp strings, hissing and whirling as they crossed and weaved, stretching until finally, Hansai clapped his hands together and screeched.

An explosion of terrifying proportions overtook Naruto's sight as it engulfed him in a harsh blast, Kurama's chakra surging forth to encompass him at the last second. Its power shook the foundations of the fortress violently, smouldering fire engulfing the entire western front with the vastness of the detonation. He clenched his teeth as fire continued to expand up and outward, heat pushing at his skin and smearing him in harsh inescapable burns, even with Kurama's intervention.

Then came the shockwave, and Naruto could only hold on as the ceiling was blasted out from under him, sending him weaving through the debris and rock that went flying with its power. His hand caught on the underside of a larger slab of stone and he propelled himself towards a shelf of rubble partially shielded by the blast's warpath. He landed roughly on his knees and braced himself on the rough and boiling ground; Hansai's scream cleaving through the atmosphere as clearly as his explosion.

Then as quickly as it came, the explosion vanished – only the heavy groaning of falling rock cutting through the shrill muteness of the aftermath. Light came and went with distorting flickers as the building rearranged itself, opening up to the rain and snow with wide, gaping arms.

With cautious steps, Kurama receded and Naruto rose, squinting at the levelled playing field, throat dry at what he saw.

There was no movement through the smoggy area, only burning and crushed corpses; the smell as suffocating as the rain-choked smoke itself. The sting behind his eyes came back with a vengeance and Naruto bit his tongue as he tilted his chin up to stare at Hansai standing somehow untouched on the second storey ledge.

The sight that met him, was a confronting one.

Hansai stood panting and sobbing. His dust orange robes were wet with spotted blood and sweat as he scratched and clutched at his head, nonsensical words tumbling from his mouth; ranted apologies and promises to no one in particular.

"No more fires, I d-didn't mean it. I can fix it, I can fix them, it's okay. He didn't mean it – I'll be good, I swear, really good… Please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't leave – Yuki!"

It was… sad.

And it was over. Naruto had a clear shot of him now.

His palm warmed as he began forming a Rasengan, eyes darting from left to right as he prayed Sai was safe, would be safe. He took a step and Hansai's howling stopped as his pale eyes cut to his in sheer madness.

Naruto braced for whatever the man thought he'd do next, but was stopped by a small bang at his back in the near distance. He had half a second to wonder what the hell that was when something shimmered brightly at the corner of his vision before falling away, like a sheet pulled from a painting.

Sai! It was Sai; tangled and unconscious behind Hansai from where he still stood hysterically panting on the second storey.

Naruto didn't give himself a moment to question his luck, didn't freeze in the face of relief so great he nearly buckled under its weight. He moved the same time Hansai did.

The man raised his arms and the area became once more swathed in sharp strings. But Naruto didn't hesitate as he leapt into the air, drawing chakra and wind into his Rasengan as it roiled and grew, expanding to a whirling powerful mass.

It was over. He needed it to be over.

Strings burned away at his touch, parting the atmosphere itself as he hurtled towards the screaming freak, silver eyes blown wide in awe and fear. This time it was the high pitched white-noise of his Rasengan that split the air, heralding the crunch of bone as it bore through Hansai's chest.

Then he landed and everything stopped.

A heartbeat passed, and Naruto felt it around his hand.

Stillness and silence encased him as Naruto stood, feet firm on unsteady ground. His hand was hot and shaking, punched as it was through Hansai's ribcage.

Wide cerulean locked onto pale grey and with a jolt his Rasengan disappeared, leaving the squelch of organs loud in his ears. He froze, holding up the man with a burning, trembling arm impaled through his body.

"Oh." Hansai breathed, his rotten breath brushing across whiskered cheeks.

That was the moment his knees gave out, both of them tumbling to the ground as Naruto shakily tried to withdraw his red-drenched hand. Kami had blood always been this red?

But his hand wouldn't budge. It was stuck, he realised with growing horror. His eyes darted around in a blaze of panic – I can't get it out – flickering wildly to Sai's limp form, then over the mass of dismembered bodies littering their battle ground in a smouldering heap.

No. I didn't mean to… Kami, tell me I didn't do all of this. Why was it so quiet? Surely he hadn't killed all of them? Surely maybe one survived? Surely –

Naruto didn't realise he was hyperventilating until a calmly rumble interrupted his spiralling thoughts.

"Easy Kit. You did well. You saved him." Kurama crooned. "…I'm proud of you."

Air pushed out of his nose sharply as Naruto blinked, focusing on holding his hand steady, and willing it back. He needed his hands. Sai was still his priority. He had to make sure… Make sure –

"Stay with me."

Hansai gargled from under him as a hand wrapped firmly over his own bloodied wrist, where his fist connected them.

Naruto fought to jerk free of the ghostly touch, but paused when his eyes fell to Hansai's earnest face. This close, he barely looked older than himself, still basically a kid. And starkly, Naruto realised why the number of children had been so great in the man's collection of 'friends'. The thought cripplingly rooted him to the spot as he let Hansai cling feebly to his slick, bloodied wrist.

"Please s-stay with me." He repeated through hitched breathing. "I-I don't w-want to be… alone."

Naruto swallowed thickly, feeling every erratic breath, feeling each pulse of a fragmented heart.

He drew his free hand up, fingers slowly curling over Hansai's clumsy grip as the boy wheezed and panted, his eyes darting fearfully. Naruto slipped his fingers between Hansai's and took his hand, holding it firmly even as he shook.

"S-stay…"

Naruto recognised something innocent in his gaze; a humanity in his dying request. Just a kid who never knew any better. A kid who had to fight for friends so hard he was forced to look to those who could no longer pass judgement on him.

'You're just like me.' The echo of Hansai's voice undid something in him, and Naruto forced himself to look into the kid's eyes as he returned his fierce hold.

"Go be with your friends, Hansai." He told him, unsure when his anger had left him back in the hands of empathy.

The smile Hansai rewarded him with was gentle and open, as his breathing turned from ragged into deep, long drags. "Will you t-tell Yuki that he can h-have my b-body."

Naruto locked his jaw, his fingers unconsciously gripping tighter. "Yeah." He rasped.

Hansai's expression turned blissful then, his last breath a happy one. "Y-you're a good f-friend…"

Naruto dipped his head as the boy's hand slipped from his.

With a shuddering inhale, he twitched his fingers and pulled. Closing his eyes did nothing to hide the wet squelch of his newly freed hand, nor it's sickening warmth. And Naruto tucked his lip between his teeth as he drew heavy, stilted breaths, willing the rattles of his body away.

When he looked back up, it was in time to catch Sai as he fell loosely from the fading chakra strings. With a tender ferocity, Naruto cradled Sai's body in careful arms, terror and relief creeping up his spine in confused pushes and pulls.

"He's alright. He'll be alright, Naruto." Kurama said. "You made sure of it."

Naruto nodded numbly into Sai's hair, his right-hand itching as the blood dried there.

---

Sakura shook her head wildly as waves of conflicting emotions crashed over her – pleasure, pain, intrigue, disappointment, pride, fear, hunger hunger hunger – drowning her in the high tides of her rolling struggle.

She could feel herself losing blood and was fleetingly impressed that Sasuke had managed to miss all vital organs and arteries when he stabbed her. But it wasn't working. No matter how much blood she lost, she couldn't regain herself fast enough for it to make a difference. And now, Atsuhiko had all but guaranteed that it wouldn't.

"Don't heal yourself just yet Sakura. Sit nice and tight for me, my love."

Kami, she was such a fool! She was the one who put herself in this position with her stupid, stupid risk. Yet again, her gamble was a foolish one. Sakura wanted to laugh that of all things to suddenly take after her Shishou for, it had to be this. Now here she was, dying in Kakashi's lap after she forced Sasuke to all but kill her.

The scream that welled up in her throat came out as a whimper as she was overtaken but yet another surge of desire and obedience. Sasuke was right, her blood loss was making her more susceptible, except now she was keenly aware of it.

She was starkly sensitive to Atsuhiko's every move, every flex of muscle, every flicker of amusement and cruel sentiment. She wanted nothing more than to crawl to him and beg for his presence, for his touch, his permission. Yet, an emergingly large part of her expelled that need with fierce derision. Sakura laboured a shaky breath. In a sense her theory was working, just not fast enough, not good enough.

Time for plan B, then. She arched as the mere thought crossed her mind. Give him what he wants.

The notion was so ridiculous, so dangerous, she had forbidden herself from even contemplating it with her limited free cognizance. But here and now, halfway between death and promised immortality, Sakura found the ludicrous idea favourable. She just hoped she could pull it off. She just hoped the idea was hers.

There was a shuffle of movement above her, hands restlessly pressing firmer onto her wound as a crop of silver hair dusted her periphery.

"Please, Sakura. Come back to me."

She could do this.

She had to.

---

Atsuhiko grinned as he sent the Uchiha careening into the side of a stone column, chasing his tumble with greedy excitement as he stabbed his Blood Blade through rock, narrowly missing the flesh of the man's neck. His smile faltered in brief disappointment when the Uchiha reappeared at his back with a lightning charged sword, blood sent sizzling as Atsuhiko swung to meet his parry. The Uchiha was exceedingly careful in avoiding any specks of his lifeblood that went flying from the exchange, and Atsuhiko had to hand the mortal his intelligence.

Wise of him to fear his divinity.

For a mortal, he was assuredly fast and skilful. Then again, what did he expect from one wielding the power of the God's? He was a challenge worth getting his hands dirty for, and when he finally had the mortal's head on a platter, and those eyes in his hand, the victory would be all the more delicious.

Atsuhiko's lavender eyes dilated in anticipation as the Uchiha leapt back and pulled a spool of wire from his pouch, using his teeth to string it into a deadly web as he warped and flashed around him, quick like silver. He watched those perfect eyes as they flickered and narrowed, working in perfect tandem with his body to ensure a pristinely executed offensive technique.

His speed, his calculation, his unparalleled vision. Such mastery of those Godly eyes would soon be his as he used their prowess to bring his divinity to the mortal world. Atsuhiko stood perfectly still as the Uchiha continued to dance around him in near invisible flashes of movement, and let a smirk cross his lips.

He cast his eyes over to his Sakura where she remained struggling for breath and control on her back. His little mortal still trying so hard to resist what was Fate.

Atsuhiko let a small wave of comfort flow from his chakra to hers. She needn't fret. The time had almost come. He could feel her desperate hunger from here. Her little trick had only done him a greater service in hastening the inevitable. At this rate, he likely wouldn't even need ask of her the Pomegranate. She would surely bring it to him herself, of her own volition. The thought was pleasing and Atsuhiko indulged in the fantasy of her offering, just as he would offer the Uchiha's head to her.

A dark laugh bubbled from his chest as he considered such a potential reality, and as the Uchiha finished the final loop of wire around his body, Atsuhiko let a ferocious wave of chakra pulse from his being. For mortals such a thing was akin to releasing killing intent, but for Gods such as himself, their intent was as good as a corporeal attack. Thus proven by the way the razor-sharp wire expanded and ballooned off his presence until they reflexively snapped, flying like whips towards the defenceless Rats, gashing stone and slicing through all in their path.

Then his chakra was continuing its expanse, sending the foundations of the fortress trembling, and flattening the remains of the north-eastern wall. Dust and glass filled the choked air as a mere thrill of his power reshuffled their very environment; light briefly dimming as part of the ceiling collapsed in on itself only to offer its place to the stormy sky.

Atsuhiko smiled kindly at the muted chokes of the Rats in his radius. They surely felt his devastation penetrate right through to their own chakra cores, intense as his natural talent was. And that was only a shred of what he was capable of. Once reunited with the Pomegranate, there would be nothing to compare to him in this world.

He would be untouchable. He would be King. He would be Home.

As though in manifestation of his title, his chakra slithered and coiled from his palm, trailing to his Blood Blade, held loosely in his palm. With a gentle shimmer of gold, the blade stretched and sharpened until finally Atsuhiko held a whip in his hand. With a raised silver brow, he considered what he had just subconsciously conjured into existence. A rather rudimentary and savage tool, to be sure. But appropriately suited to his impending title. He licked his lips in triumph as he tested its weight. Yes, this would do very well.

Atsuhiko rose his Blood Whip in inspection and flicked his wrist, sending the weapon lashing as it made an impressive crack through the charged, stormy air. He relished in his Sakura's fear as it rippled into awe, and Atsuhiko let arrogance bleed into his stance. With a cruel smirk and an experimental flare of chakra, he cracked his whip once more. This time, spikes of blood shot from its form as he wielded his superiority. He heard the stifled grunts of the mortals as they attempted to dodge his projectile Blood Spikes and it was an oddly comforting sound.

He flit lilac eyes up to gage the rightful aggrievance on the Uchiha's face and let his smirk rest into confidence upon his unblemished face. "Get on your knees, and I might just feel inclined to make your death a painless one, Uchiha."

The dirt ridden Rat merely glared back, and Atsuhiko let his laughter colour the air as he turned to share his amusement with his dying little mortal, laying in the arms of yet another foolish Rat unworthy of her touch.

"Believe me when I say I do this for you, Sakura." Atsuhiko called tenderly to her, revelling in her cautious curl of anticipation. "I will deliver you from this hell-scape. You need not be defined by the Rats whom so desperately cling to your greatness. You need not feel a moment's more pain."

Her eyes were glossy and breath was hitched as she trembled, "A-Atsuhiko…please."

He softened his gaze at her delicate plea. She would surely not recognise it herself, but her body sung for him in that moment, despite the pain in her apple green eyes. Her need for him was so clear, even the Rats could not refute it. And once again, as the Uchiha tore his attention back towards the woman in concern, Sakura proved herself the perfect companion.

With a minute flex of his wrist, Atsuhiko sent his whip lashing towards the distracted Uchiha. It was simply too easy – the way his lash secured itself over the man's fragile neck and dragged him bodily across the upturned room until he was choking, on his knees before him.

There was a cacophony of shouts, a flurry of aborted movements and a surreal spike of pure dread. But all of it smoothed out into stillness as the Uchiha froze under his vulnerable position; his life but seconds away from ending.

Atsuhiko hummed, euphoric power thrilling through his veins as the mortal glared up at him with desperate spinning eyes. He arched his wrist and the Uchiha's head was rung back with the harsh grip pulsing around his throat.

"I'll k-kill you!" The filthy Rat attempted to gargle, and Atsuhiko found himself yanking harder on the whip if only to revel in the way the vermin chocked on his own spit and mortality.

"How disappointing." He mused casually, staring boredly into the desperate spinning eyes of the fool on the end of his leash.

How, delightful.

All it would take was a simple burst of his chakra and his spikes would imbed themselves into his neck, and everything would fall into place. It was a moment to savour, to be sure. And savour it Atsuhiko did, right up until the moment his Woman's voice slithered into his ears.

"Atsuhiko." She said and this time her plea was of a different kind as she levered herself off the ground and struggled to limp towards him.

He noted the way the masked-one tried to reach after her, and the restraining grip Yukine placed on his shoulder. Atsuhiko could taste it; her hunger as clear as his own, her readiness, her determination, her brilliance. He could do nothing but oblige her as she dragged herself over to him with clear mesmerising eyes.

How could he not, when she was finally choosing him.

Against all odds, something in him lifted in pure contentedness. The moment, as violent and graphic as he had painted it, somehow made gentle and beautiful by her presence. The purity of her choice for him confoundingly meaningful. His grip on his whip tightened when she stumbled in her careful steps and Atsuhiko almost abandoned the Uchiha to rush to her side.

But he was not so hasty. She was worthy of his attention, of his blood, and so she was worthy of his belief in her strength, despite all that was pitted against her. Admiration leeched off him in rivers as he watched her beautiful struggle, and despite not tearing his eyes off his Woman, Atsuhiko remained well aware of Yukine and his critical stare.

Let the man ponder the depths of true loyalty and devotion.

There was precious joy in his amethyst eyes when she reached him, her fingers cold but delicate as they slid over his wrist to curl gently around his hand – the hand holding the mortal hostage.

Then he was under her viridian stare and Atsuhiko wanted nothing more than to taste her next words for himself, seal her choice for him in physical bliss. How he craved her lips again. Instead he withheld his impulse and waited patiently for her. His Woman who smelled of copper and tasted of apples.

"Atsuhiko." She cooed, and his name had never sounded so sweet than when she spoke it. "I – I want…"

Then, without sparing a single glance to the mortal of her past, his Woman drifted her hand down to her wounded side and dipped her palm in the last vestiges of her mortality.

Atsuhiko watched raptly as she carefully lowered to her knees before him and palmed her bloody hand against the cold stone floor. With a small and precise tug of their chakra, she summoned something into existence.

And his breath left him at the sight of the Pomegranate!

His utter relief and joy took but a second seat to his pride for her. Her intelligence, her skill, her choice. Such a clever little mortal she was to have hidden the Pomegranate in such a faultless place. Now to present it to him. She was truly perfect, earthly flaws and all.

When she plucked the fruit from the creature, it was as though his world was complete. Euphoria consumed him, anticipation rushing through his veins as he stared hungrily at the image which was Sakura offering him his deliverance.

His beautiful, little mortal. "My Sakura."

---

Sakura's hand shook as she held the Pomegranate in her weak grasp.

There was a small pop; Katsuyu no longer able to remain as their blend of twisted chakra shattered the fragile summons. She almost buckled under the weight of such a powerful organism pulsing in her palm. For what else could she call it but alive?

Especially when it called to her as sweetly as Atsuhiko.

She needed it, they needed it. It was perfect. The piece that had been missing finally reunited; like the relief of a loved one returning when all hope had once been lost. How could she refute such a precious arrival?

Suddenly, there were fingertips at her temple brushing the hair from her face and leading her to stand; the touch sending butterflies across her cooling skin, even as she had begun losing feeling in her limbs.

"You are truly remarkable, Sakura." He said and Sakura was struck by his gentle sincerity.

Even more so when she met his eyes and saw that every ounce of his attention was on her, despite his every desire being finally within reach.

Sakura swallowed roughly, pain abruptly loosening its hold on her as she gazed back into his kind lilac eyes. She wanted this. She wanted him. And horrifyingly, the part of her that wanted to disagree was startlingly silent under such mutual benevolence.

It made her resolve abandoned her that much further, sinking into the depths of her unreachable mind.

Be good. So good... Be with me.

Why hadn't she done this sooner?

Her arm shook as she rose the Pomegranate in his direction, thoughts silent as her world narrowed to him and only him. His touch skated around her jaw, down her neck, until finally he wound his free around her and held her to him. She almost whined at how nice it felt, to be so close.

Not close enough.

She didn't realise her knees had begun to collapse until he was taking her weight for her, and still her hand lifted his Godhood up until it rested between their chests. As though the Pomegranate itself felt their alignment, it glowed a soft pink, intertwining with the glow of their steady gold figures.

She felt… she was…

Home.

Sakura wasn't aware of anything else beyond the man wrapped around her and the need to completely close the distance between them, in every sense of word. She swallowed her saliva as she memorised the beautiful fuchsia of the Pomegranate, already tasting its ripe nectar on her tongue as she licked her lips. She was so hungry.

"That's it. So perfect you are, Sakura." Atsuhiko's voice ghosted into her ears as he tipped his forehead against her own.

She chased his touch, tilting her chin to drag her nose against his smooth cheek. She felt his warm, satisfied rumble. Revelled in the way he pulled her closer.

"Won't you be mine, Sakura?" He invited, and how could she refuse when it was all she ever wanted. "And take me as your own, for Eternity?"

The words filled her with a dangerous ecstasy and Sakura shakily nodded, all else forgotten, all else inconsequential as she floated in an ocean of blissful contentment.

Yes. So perfect. For Eternity.

She brought the Pomegranate further to her lips and paused, her eyes seeking his as he studied her with rapt, fond attention.

"Together?" She breathed.

"I would have it no other way, Sakura." He blessed, smiling tearfully at her as he let his lips press gently against the crown of her head, a soft happiness enveloping him.

Sakura fluttered her eyes shut, the happiness contagious as it whirled through their entwined bodies.

This was it. All she wanted. All they needed.

Her teeth grazed the Pomegranate, rightness settling deep into her soul.

She was coming Home.

…Home…

"What Village do you call home?" A voice –Atsuhiko's – drifted in from the depths of her mind, half-buried, half-forgotten.

Sakura frowned, chasing the question with hazy, shaky thoughts.

…K-Konoha…?

The welcome sight of those big green gates. The smell of the lush emerald elm trees in the spring. The sounds of the Sunday civilian markets. The taste of her Father's homemade mochi. The feel of her Mother's hug.

"And you enjoy it there? It's okay, you can tell me."

The Academy, where she first learnt to throw a kunai, where she first met Ino. Training Ground Three, where she first learned the most important lesson of her life. Ichiraku, where she first learnt how infectious Naruto's laughter was. The Bench, where she first learned what a broken heart felt like. The Hokage Tower, where she first learnt the meaning of true strength.

"Your home. And you wish to protect and preserve it, yes?"

Hands – forged in pain, soaked in blood – made to understand a lifetime worth of suffering so they could undo the same in others. Shoulders – broken and beat into permanence – rebuilt to bare the burdens of those unsavable. Strength – burnt to ash and clawed back into renewal – won to ensure the future of those unable to protect it themselves.

"That's why you became a Shinobi."

A lifetime of choices narrowed down to one simple fact.

"…No. It's why I stayed one." Her words were soundlessly and Sakura smiled, lips pressed against the cool skin of the Pomegranate.

When she opened her eyes, it was to meet the awaiting stare of a man who could never understand, no matter how intimately he consumed her feelings.

"See you on the other side of Eternity, Atsuhiko."

Then with nothing but her strength – once forged, once forsaken – Sakura crushed the Pomegranate in her fist and let it disintegrate into nothing more than a terrible 'what if'.

The screech that followed emanated straight from her soul as she felt its death as if it were her own. The body holding her shuddered with ferocity as the remains of the fruit dripped from her lax fingertips.

No, no, no, no…!

"What have you done!?" The vibrations rumbled from his body into hers, anger and betrayal so clear she might've shivered from their intensity.

Sakura tried to keep her smile, but the pain was too great. "W-what I should have done since the beginning."

Then he was shaking her, his rage and horror so visceral it knocked the breath out of her. "Foolish Woman, you have no idea what you've just done!"

The notion had crossed her mind, but Sakura didn't have much sense to care as she rapidly began to fade from consciousness – the loss so integral she may as well have teared out her own heart and crushed it. Sakura blinked as the world shifted, and suddenly she wasn't within Atsuhiko's embrace but Sasuke's. A warm arm was wrapped carefully around her as she was cradled to his chest, before being passed to another's.

"Sakura, please no, no, no – "

"Kakashi you have to focus! Make sure she heals herself. Don't let her lose consciousness until she does."

Guilt wormed its way under her skin as she heard Kakashi and Sasuke trade worried words. Then Sasuke flickered out of sight, a clash heralding his departure. Sakura squirmed weakly.

Right. I promised I would save myself…

She muffled a groan as her side painfully pulsated, but it barely held a candle to the intense devastation she felt peeling off Atsuhiko. She felt his utter ruin, his wrath, his betrayal, his hatred, his deep, crushing sorrow.

And the reality hit her like a punch through her chest.

She could still feel him.

They were still connected.

And as he turned to violently meet Sasuke's advance with swift brutality and fierce vengeance; Sakura realised her fatal mistake.

She had changed nothing. She had but given him greater impetus to kill them all.

The Pomegranate's juices remained sticky between her fingers and Sakura let her head knock back against Kakashi's broad chest in defeat as he pleaded frantically above her.

"Stay with me, Sakura. Come on, I need you to heal yourself, okay? Can you do that for me?"

She barely heard him above her own muted panic.

Idiot! His power source was never the Pomegranate. It was simply his guarantee at easy immortality. But he doesn't need it to destroy us all. No. I just gave him every reason to rip Sasuke's eyes out of his head and start again.

Sakura bit her lip against her straining despair. Come on, Haruno. Think! He's lived this long without the Pomegranate, he has to be drawing power from somewhere. With his immortal tether destroyed something has to still be sustaining him here –

As if the thought had always been there, understanding presented itself to Sakura in simple terms and logic. So stupidly simple it had been staring at her the whole time.

Oh... Yeah. That… tracks. Guess it's my time to be the hero, boys.

With numb acceptance, Sakura drifted her sticky fingers down to her wounded side and breathed deeply.

Oh Shishou, don't kick my ass for this one.

Sakura curled her slick fingers across her stomach and opened her eyes to stare up at Kakashi's anxious grey depths.

"Hey 'K-Kashi… I n-need your help."

She knew what she had to do now.

Kami forgive her.

---

A/N: Phew. Congratulations to all those who were patient enough to wait for this update then actually read it. 75 pages is no easy task for the eyes, so I truly extend my gratitude.

I know there was a metric crap tonne in this chapter – so hopefully it all translated into a semi-enjoyable reading experience. Honestly, I really enjoyed writing such a vulnerable and exposed Naruto in this chapter, but I'm excited to hear your thoughts on the parts which got to you the most!

But also yeah, Sakura got me good in this one. (And yes, I know we ended on yet again another cliff-hanger, I promise I don't do it on purpose. Most of the time.)

As always, much love team!