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.

26. Chapter 26

Gone.

Atsuhiko ran his idle gaze over nothing as he stared sightlessly ahead, his right hand clenched at his collar.

It was gone. Destroyed. Nothing but ash and sap.

His limbs were numb as he absently lifted and flexed, meeting the blows of the feral Rat charging upon him, hardly sparing a thought beyond his stagnant appraisal.

The key to his absolute divinity – gone in the blink of an eye.

She had taken his Pomegranate – his heart – and crushed it in her small fist.

Bereavement sung through his soul, and Atsuhiko curled his lips against the bitter loss. There was a fixed hollowness to him now. His hunger forever unsated. An everlasting emptiness in his chest.

All at the small hands of her.

A howl built up in his aching chest, and Atsuhiko buried it down, distractedly batting away the filthy mortal with a mere flick.

She took our future and destroyed it. The thought tumbled through his mind, mixing in with the heightened emotions surging alongside his rushing chakra. With his claim to salvation gone, his hunger was desperate for a new muse, a second chance at satiation. A call searching for an answer.

A frown pinched his brow, anger merging into desire and, almost fated, his lilac eyes fell upon her in all her ruinous glory. Clarity emerged against the forfeiture; a line drawn in the sand where his were a wandering soul; seeking, needing.

There she was. An old hope, found. A fresh oasis in the blistering desert; trading a hunger for a thirst.

And like the blood thrilling in his veins, the call was a simple one. Unobstructed as it had become without the yearning of the Pomegranate, he was free to feel her and only her.

The pain would not ebb. No, his being was cursed with abstract longing for as long as he could remember.

Yet it was dark cunning which surfaced and flowed through him as Atsuhiko intently studied Sakura and her unwitting redemption.

His little mortal and her fragile strength.

His pain was hers. His loss was theirs to share. And he knew she felt every inch of it as she withered and writhed in the arms of another.

We are one, existing to complete the other. I see it now. She is my salvation, as I am hers.

Through agony, truth beckoned like a light in the night. And it was truthwhich struck him as he met the Uchiha's blade with blood.

The Pomegranates' loss was painful, yes, but not damning. He had long grown to adapt to its absence; those phantom pains waning from grief to longing over the centuries.

His Sister was indeed cunning when she carved it from him – taking the key to his home. Yet, she was a fool to have granted him possession of his chakra in his condemnation. He did not need his divinity to survive when his chakra ensured prolonged eternity. When his Blood promised perpetual opportunity for rebirth.

No. His inherent Godhood was gone, it had been since the day it was torn from his being. His past forcibly separated from his future. But he did not need such assurances to crush the Rats of this realm. Not when a new immortality was just as easy and ready for the taking; coloured in red and purple as they glared back at him. Those vibrant shades of fratricidal royalty.

Everything was so clear to him now. Chakra had been sustaining him for centuries. His Blood was the perfect conduit of both control and continued power. And with those mortal's coveted eyes… Well, his reach would be endless. His power, absolute. His control, unquestionable.

Suffering peeled itself into purpose and, strengthened by loss, driven by singular desire, Atsuhiko felt power thrum through him like never before.

His dear little mortal.

She had set him truly free.

---

Fingers wrapped around her own, shades of grey blurring and sharpening in and out of focus as Kakashi's face wavered above her. Sakura swallowed an unsteady groan of pain and sought for rein of concentration. She needed to act quickly, time was running out…Slipping right through her fingers and into His.

"Hey 'K-Kashi… I n-need your help."

Atsuhiko's wailing resentment had transformed into cruel arrogance and Sakura bit her lip against the uncertainty swelling in her chest. She could feel the maelstrom of his emotions twisting into a singular desire. A desire so strong she could almost taste the words on her own tongue.

Those eyes...

A spike of weary resolve clawed at her, finding purchase in the footholds of her courage. She could do this. The choice was simple.

And it will be my choice.

Armed with a steady smile and more blind bravery than she thought herself capable, Sakura met Kakashi's charcoal eyes.

Please forgive me, Kakashi. You shouldn't have to shoulder my burdens but… I won't let him hurt you anymore. Any of you.

---

He felt the shift in the air – though Sasuke wasn't sure how he still felt anything when anger and worry was all that churned through his veins.

She was an idiot to have destroyed the Pomegranate the way she did; in her state, when she was so close and vulnerable next to that God. Sasuke saw the toll it took on her, the moment she crushed it in her fist. It affectedher, hurt her. She risked herself yet again on his behalf.

Stupid! The word grated at him. She shouldn't have put herself in that position. Not when he knew she did it to save his life… For if she hadn't when she did…

A piece of rubble fell from the crumbling stature of the roof, and Sasuke ripped his attention back to the God at hand, thinning his lips at what he saw.

Where once a steady raging grief had been pulling at Atsuhiko, now calm malice was all that remained. At some point the man's bound hair had become undone, and silver strands flew wildly around his raven-clad figure, seemingly moved by nothing less than his own essence of power. That golden glow to his skin had yet to waver, and Sasuke thought he knew what it meant.

Yet, like his gnawing concern for Sakura, he swept it aside to be dealt with later. Distraction meant failure, that was a lesson he had learnt as a ninja. And bonds meant vulnerability, that was a lesson he learnt as a man. Some deeply buried part of him whispered that love meant strength, but he shut those child-like words away; carefully, safely away.

Sasuke grit his teeth, forbidding himself from straying a glance towards Sakura again. He just had to trust in her now. She said she could heal herself, and so she would. He couldn't afford to doubt her now. Not again.

His eyes flit carefully over Atsuhiko as he silently studied the pulped remains of the Pomegranate at his feet; his pearly eyes flashing cold then wistful.

"How remarkable." The God whispered to himself, "She confounds me yet again, my little mortal."

Tension rose in his shoulders, and Sasuke slid the back of his heel across gravel, forbidding himself from searching out the woman of his every concern.

She'll be fine. This is my fight to finish now. She's trusting me to finish it.

His right eye twitched as it spun, anticipation coiling his muscles as he calculated the fastest way to end it. Then those lavender eyes were on him, and a crooked smile stretched itself upon the God's ivory face.

"It appears things finally got interesting."

There was a blur of light, then abrupt discomfort before he could even blink. Faster than Sasuke had ever seen the God move, Atsuhiko was suddenly before him, fingers digging into the skin above his left eye, nails screwing into the soft flesh of his socket. Sasuke choked on a gasp, his Sharingan rapidly absorbing the movement the same time a shockwave of both speed and chakra hit him square in the chest.

Pain had barely begun to register when he retaliated; drawing his sword up to slice at the man's arm and rip himself away from those burrowing fingers in a burst of instinctual swiftness. A dark laugh traced his retreat, blood already coming to ooze over his left brow and down his cheek; the feel of that man's fingers like fire against his skin.

Shit. I didn't even see him move. I can't let my guard down like that again.

"Unfortunate for you that Sakura just rose the stakes, dear Sasuke-kun."

The voice filtered in through his pumping adrenaline, and Sasuke locked his jaw at the way his heart continued to hammer in his chest. A spasm of hatred curled his lips back as he sought the God's mocking gaze, and he was begrudgingly pleased to note a deep gash on the length of Atsuhiko's arm.

That reprieve of satisfaction rapidly disappeared when Atsuhiko merely lifted a palm and summoned a gentle green glow to his hand, wiping it once over his forearm and clearing the injury straight from his skin. Then that sickening smile was back, eyes narrowed in cruel amusement as Atsuhiko stared at him.

"A gift, I suppose you could say. Intimately as we've become connected, Sakura's talents are not lost on me. Though, I should hardly need such intervention, least of all once the dust has settled on our little bout. For mine is a Will unbent by time, and unmatched by men."

Then, with a crack of chakra, the God drew his palms together in a clap and pulled, transforming his blood into two, spiralling whips. They curled and lengthened becoming an extension of his hands from where he let himself bleed, unbothered as the stain ran his fingertips red. A shift of muscle had both whips slashing upwards, then down to slice the earth; the blood sizzling like acid as it met stone.

A satisfied smile stretched across the God's serene face. "Now, where were we?"

Sasuke drew his back straight and set his chin. Calloused fingers gripped steel, as exhaustion and discomfort were banished from his body. He had a job to do – to deliver retribution to those who crossed his team.

Uchiha's didn't bow. And they didn't look back – not even when every cell in his body screamed at him for one final glance at her.

Don't you dare fucking die, Sakura.

Sasuke took a step, head held high and both eyes forward.

Don't you dare.

---

Naruto shuffled out on unsteady feet, loose rocks catching his uneven gait as he carried Sai towards their Taichou. He squinted tired eyes ahead, the softly falling snow the only movement in the area; the storming having made its final goodbyes with a frosted whimper. Dim streams of light filtered in past the bruised sky, preserving the stillness of dawn in abstract shadows.

Yamato was crouched a small distance away, calmly knelt at the base of a blood marked tree, his stillness, unnerving. Hesitation grabbed at his ankles and Naruto had to fight to keep walking.

Just keeping moving forward.

Sai's body was heavy in his arms, the weight made all the harder by the slick grip of his crimson covered limbs. He had tried to carefully wipe what blood he could from Sai's eyes and face, but… Well, he was beginning to learn why Sakura-chan always demanded she shower after surgery before he could even come within ten feet of her… Even on the days when it was so clear all she needed was to be held.

Naruto swiftly put the trail of his thoughts to the side – hidden behind that fragile stone wall – and focused his eyes back upon Yamato.

This close he could finally see what held the man's attention in the wine-coloured snow at his knees. Another body. A woman's body laying as still as the dawn breeze. The sight set an uncomfortable pinch through him. His right hand itched.

"Taichou." He murmured, eyes focused intently on the man's broad back and not on the vibrant cherry colour that looked too bright.

It was when Yamato shifted to glance back at him that Naruto truly saw. He saw that the body was staring raptly back at him with hazy honey eyes, her fingers half curled into Yamato's wet sleeve. Naruto blinked at her, at the way her chest rose and fell, at the brilliant colour of red cornering her still pink lips.

He didn't see the concealed look of shock and blatant concern on Yamato's face as the man turned to face him. He didn't see the way those pained almond eyes fell to Sai in his arms and grew that much tighter. All he saw was a body in the snow. All he saw was the echo of his actions in the deep mourning of those honey eyes.

Monster.

"H-Hansai…?" The body spoke, and Naruto jumped at the sound.

A wave of nausea shot through him a moment later when he connected her words. He licked his lips and pretended the sour tang was his sweat and nothing more. "He's with his friends now."

MonsterMonsterMonster.

He pretended his voice didn't crack. He pretended not to see the way Yamato smothered a cautious sway towards him. He pretended not to recognise the live reflection of anguish on the woman's face.

Her brow scrunched, tearing her eyes away to scoff at the sky, a feeble laugh trailing her breath. "That… idiot."

Naruto shifted Sai, drifting his gaze to Yamato's shoulders as he continued to quietly kneel over the body.

"Do me a favour, Handsome" She said, glassy eyes wandering to Yamato. "Before you kill me, bring me to Yuki. I wanna see his sorry face when I die. My final glow and all that."

Naruto frowned at her faint smile, another uncomfortable tug at his insides. Both her and Hansai had made similar requests in their death, and he couldn't help but contemplate if this Yuki would even care at all… he had left them this far after all. A tired anger tried to swell in the pit of his stomach, but all that stirred was deep heartache.

Then Yamato's shoulders bunched, and Naruto found his voice.

"Taichou." He warned. Because they didn't have time for deliberation when he had one teammate fading in his arms and another suffering who-knows what. He was tired, and covered in – in… And his heart could only take the afflictions of the few he already held there.

Perhaps, if he had the sense of mind, Naruto might've mourned his own exhausted refusal to offer second chances as the loss that it was. But there he stood; the night a silent conqueror, and the new day an unwanted adversary when already he had surrendered his soul to the fight.

Yamato let out a deep sigh and Naruto could only watch through sore eyes as the man shifted forward and carefully gathered up the body – woman – in his arms. "We'll bring her along." He said solemnly. "With any luck she can be used as leverage."

He was much too numb to question such a tactic, and so Naruto followed Yamato's lead as they trudged back into the smouldering ruins of the building, a steady beacon of violent chakra steering them towards what was no doubt the source of their teammates.

"You keep telling yourself that, Big Boy." The woman sniffed at Yamato, her head knocking against his shoulder. "I know it's because of your noble little glow."

"Don't waste your energy trying to cast genjutsu. The moment I detect one, I will kill you, Ara."

Yamato jumped to the second story, and carefully stepped over abstract remains as he navigated the ruin. Naruto caught the moment Ara's eyes fell upon Hansai, her expression slipping entirely from her face as though wiped from the inside out.

"…Promise you'll make it quick, Baby?"

Naruto swallowed at her soft utterance and clutched Sai closer as he waded through his monstrosity. "Come on, Yamato. We have to get to the others. Sakura-chan needs to take a look at Sai."

He didn't know why he said it, his words almost disconnected from the rest of him. He knew as well as Yamato that they couldn't know what state she would be in when they found her… But part of him had to – urged to – verbalise his optimism as he had always done. Had to make his keen hope real, and the only power he had over it was to bring the words into existence, heavy as they were.

He ignored the tightness in Yamato's frame as the man nodded. "Yeah."

"The Princess…" Ara mumbled with a concealed groan of pain. "Atsuhiko's done something to her. You h-have to set her free."

"What did he do?" There was sharpness in Yamato's voice as he hastened, their path opening up only for it to narrow into a maze of half-demolished corridors; broken stone and pitfalls scattering the places between.

The expanse of rubble mocked them, as though a testament to their own making. Look how your actions have consequences, it seemed to scream. And Naruto could only push and scrape another tumbling thought behind that brittle brick wall.

"He ruined her…" Ara spat with a gasp, wet auburn hair sticking to her dirty cheek. "You can't let that bastard win. Fucker is a damn creep."

"How do we defeat him?" Naruto found himself asking, something spiralling in his chest. "How do we save Sakura?"

Ara turned predatory yellow eyes on him and grinned with feral ruby lips. "Kill him until he's dead."

Dead. The word rung through his body like never before. Cold, and intimately familiar, and all his.

Like the final nail in the coffin, that something found purchase in his soul; a twisted weight declaring an empty salvation of 'peace and justice'. Naruto turned sapphire eyes upon Sai and vowed that for his team, a Monster he could become.

---

Flecks of dirt and rain dusted his cheeks as Yukine watched the Uchiha dart erratically towards Atsuhiko, their careful plans now a reflection of the wreckage around them.

A 'King among Rats'… So that was always his intent. His bitterness was half-concealed with measured apathy, and Yukine questioned if he truly was blind to have missed such an obvious ambition. He had been well warned, had he not, and in no uncertain terms.

He locked his jaw as his false God sent a shockwave of chakra towards the young Uchiha, knocking him several feet back, and ferociously advancing with gleeful murder in his wild lilac eyes.

No. Blind he was not. Merely a fool too eager for a promise, he dismissed all that could be irrelevant to his own reckoning.

How disappointed have you become in me, Sen…?

The air was charged with a plethora of agitated and distressed signals. Fear, malice, devastation, sorrow. Yukine could hardly pick out his own disillusionment, his resigned betrayal in the whirlpool of emotions swallowing him whole. In the end, he did what he has always done.

Control the input. Burry the dissonance. Rise above.

"Sakura. Tell me what to do."

The strained words caught his abrupt attention. Yukine held his broken wrist and cast his gaze over to Hatake and the girl, crowded together on the wet, filthy floor, red colouring the spaces between. A sigh built in his chest as he studied their pitiful image.

Stupid or brave. He still couldn't decide which she was as he looked upon Sakura-san and her crimson doused side.

She was smiling thinly at Hatake, hands firm on his as she hushed him with empty comforts. Her words were pushed through tense lips as she struggled to articulate the no doubt harried thoughts of her briefly freed mind.

He tilted his head at them, these 'Heroes' whose every action seemed to only condemn them further into bitter truth. Attachment and demise, how synonymous those words had always been. It took only a little experience to see, to know the futility of such efforts of connection… of love.

And yet…

"Shh, it's okay 'K-Kashi."

Brave. Yukine quietly concluded, assessing the way she had fought herself free of Atsuhiko when none other had ever shown such conviction and strength.

"I-It'll be okay."

Stupid. He amended as he glanced at the pink sap of the Pomegranate spilt across the floor and between her fingers – Fate rewritten in the stubborn handwriting of a mere girl.

Yet here she lay, rewarded by her grand achievements with a hole in her side, inflicted by none other than the man who ought to cherish her.

He cast an eye over to the Uchiha as he skirted the lashing strike of Atsuhiko's bubbling Blood Whips, only to counter with a lightning wreathed blade. Yukine had never personally witnessed the abilities of the God firsthand, but he knew well enough that one hit would surely determine a winner. And, aggrieved as Atsuhiko had become, a winner he was certain there wouldn't be.

The Uchiha split into three clones and began playing with misdirection; eliciting a feral hum from Atsuhiko as all three came at him with varying jutsu, only to be vaporised in deadly spiked projectiles. Then, the real Uchiha emerged, warping with rubble and ducking under the God's swing to slash at the man's knees. The hit was easily avoided by the God, and so the battle continued.

"Sakura. You need to heal yourself."

Yukine looked back when he heard Hatake's firm order, the sight of their absorbed struggle so at odds with the chaos of the world around them. As though they were the only ones to matter to the other in that moment, intimately bound in a singular, stretching paradigm shift.

But then, tragedy always did have a way of altering perspectives.

"I d-don't – "

"You have to try."

It shifted foundations and shattered spheres of beliefs until no longer could one recognise the world beneath their feet; the broken pillars of a home lost its frame; a man lost his meaning.

"Sakura, please."

That unforgiving hand of Fate.

Yukine took a careful step towards them.

"I can't 'Kashi. There's no t-time." The girl mumbled through a spasm of pain. "I know what I have to do. I can feel him clearly now. It was staring at me the w-whole time. It's the Seal, Kakashi. I'm the new Seal."

Yukine faltered, eyes shrewd, breath held as he fascinated over her words. The roar of Atsuhiko's chakra flared like fuel to the flame from across the room, under Sakura-san's skin, as though encouraged by its mere acknowledgement. He felt the possessiveness of the God's chakra, the righteous angerto take everything he could from his world that had taken so much from him. Starting and ending with the woman whose hand was still warm from holding his heart in her palm.

"I'm his Seal". She repeated on a whisper, a dangerous ravening control lingering in her veins as she continued to struggle against it.

Yukine exhaled silently. Intelligent. He tallied, detail forming her with every revelation. He pressed forward again until he was hovering in their periphery, Hatake barely sparing him more than a fierce warning glare.

"P-Power and control, remember? That's what it's always been about. Only Atsuhiko thought he had both." Her fingers wrapped firmly around Hatake's fretful hands as she levered herself half up-right, green eyes fierce in their blaze.

"But I know the truth now. With the Pomegranate gone, there's no distortion. I can feel it. When I destroyed the Seal in the way I did, I became his new m-mortal tether. I've been sustaining him just like the Seal used to. It's his control, but it's my power. My chakra core."

The air was still with her next declaration, Fate and tragedy a tidal wave against their desperate cling to a moment.

"We need to cut off the power supply." She said. "Make him truly mortal."

Yukine closed his eyes in understanding. Honourable. And so the list grew. She was a girl worth her salt in every measure, and he regretted her misfortune with each passing moment.

"What are you saying?" Hatake asked, his denial as transparent as his refusal.

And Yukine could only stand and witness their shaking pillars and shifting worlds, with nothing to offer but the hindsight that this was something they could not outrun.

"Destroy my chakra core." She said. "Take me out of the equation and we can take him out. I'm his weakness. 'A contradictory advantage'." A watery laugh escaped her a moment before she set her chin and met Hatake's eyes head on. "We need to destroy the part of him that lives through me."

Yukine read between the lines, the very truth Hatake fought to reject. Sakura-san was ready for her sacrifice to be her final one. Brave, foolish girl. Yukine watched silently as Hatake's shoulders bunched and then dropped, his head shaking firmly as he bit out.

"No, Sakura. No. There has to be another way. You can't ask me to – "

It was then that Yukine found himself under her assessing emerald gaze; the bob of her throat visible as she swept her head weakly to the side to stare after the Uchiha, blowing rings of fire at the untouchable God. Flames and smoke billowed around him with inexplicable ease – blood and chakra forming a cage around him – and still the boy was left at the hands of his disadvantage.

Atsuhiko's gifts were immeasurable as they were clear, even to the eyes of the blind. The outcome of this fight was always going to be a costly one, in whose favour, Yukine was uncharacteristically reluctant to answer.

"Have a l-little faith in your favourite kunoichi, Hokage-sama." The girl was saying in gentle tease, eyes affectionately returning to man at her side as she clumsily gripped his red soaked hand. "I'm pretty tough, you know."

Muscles coiled, Hatake curled over her, refusal evident with his every rigid breath. That foolhardy desperation to outstrip Fate. "No. I won't do this to you. Sakura, I can't… I promised I would bring you home. Y-you can't – "

A pale hand slipped up to the man's masked cheek as he choked. And Yukine could only stare reverently as she smiled achingly up at Hatake, her thumb swiping gently across his skin in soothing repetition; the humble offering of an anchor when words could no longer weather the shift.

He didn't have to be a sensor to discern the depth of emotion conveyed between the pair as they lingered in each other's embrace; in their meek, flickering shelter. Against all reason, he trailed his own fingertips up to the cross-shaped scar on his chest.

'So this is where your honour truly lies then?'

"Yukine-san." The girl called. He did his best to trust the resolve of her soul, so as not to read the fear in her eyes. "Destroy my chakra core."

There was a scream of hateful chakra as Atsuhiko let another shockwave ripple from his being, sending the Uchiha stumbling to counter the proceeding Blood Whips, all but vulnerable against the impending blow. Blood shot forth only to expand and distort as it appeared to all but surround the boy in a woven web. Then, with a blink, the net enclosed upon the boy with a snap.

Yukine stiffened as the God's lightning-fast movements blurred into a haze of sizzling steam – the cause of such an outcome obscured by the thick fog. Yet the power of the moment was immense in its meeting, Sakura-san letting lose a sharp gasp as the fate of the Uchiha remained undeterminable.

"Please, Yukine-san." She added, urgency hidden beneath the calm wobbly smile she was gifting Hatake.

He went to question when or why she suddenly thought to seek him out as an alley, when all he had ever shown her and her companions was mistreatment and suffering. And yet, Yukine could only confound himself further by the reality that she was right. He would help her.

With slow steps, he knelt beside her and let the wash of violence fade into the inconsequential. Debt and Fate had led him this far… It was time honour had carved its own path to freedom; built something out of those fragmented pieces of experience.

"…The damage will be irreversible." He told her, ignoring the way Hatake flinched towards him out of protective instinct.

"For the both of us." She agreed with a fierce grin where her injury was leaving her breathless.

Brave. Intelligent. Selfless… How alike she is to you, Sen.

Yukine swallowed, carefully reaching out his right hand to place against her blood-soaked stomach. His fingers knocked against hers and she let him take hold of her hand and link them together over her side. Hatake twitched violently with his intrusion, and it was only the girl's soothing hand over his cheek that stayed the tormented man.

"Shh, it's alright Kakashi. It's okay. I'm right here." Her voice never wavered, gentle as the spring breeze as she hushed him. "I'm right here."

Hatake was swathed in terror and anguish as he curled further over her, and Yukine wondered at the sincerity with which he was consumed by the other man's visceral emotions.

'Sakura doesn't have to be Sen.'

"This is a grave sacrifice." He said softly, flattening their entwined palms against her pulsing wound.

The girl laughed lightly, a gasp trailing her bravery. "It's not s-so bad. There are worse things." Her glassy gem eyes never left Hatake's, curved as they were in unbridled affection and love. "Nothing that some saury and dogs won't fix."

The words struck Yukine in their oddity, but it appeared their meaning struck Hatake like a physical blow as the man let out a muted choke, bowing his head further into her crown.

"All the saury you want… everything. You'll have it all, Sakura – "

"When we get home." She finished softly.

The moment clung with feeble hands at their gentle sincerity, and once more, against his very making, Yukine felt compelled to offer what comfort he could. "I will make it so you don't feel anything." He soothed, sending soft tendrils of his chakra through and feeling the tension slither from her in tired streams.

She blinked up at him, her smile genuine and only a little afraid. "I won't forget this."

Yukine dipped his head, not even bothering to smother his deep frown. "Save your strength, Sakura-san."

He didn't look at Hatake when he pushed his chakra through her corroded pathways, travelling down each and every conduit until he reached her inflamed core. He didn't speak as he waded carefully through the mess of chakra lying chained and twisted in tangles of green and gold, the core itself impaired and all but disfigured. He could see it clearly now, how she was being poisoned from the inside out; that she had been suffering long before their cruel interference into her life.

You knew. He glanced at the girls' face. You knew that even separating yourself from Him would not protect you… You knew your Fate was truly set the moment you touched that cursed Seal.

The girl's side expanded under their combined palms with her steady breathing, as Hatake soothed her with gentle, trembling hands. And Yukine found himself unwittingly enfolded in their shaking, shifting moment. He forbade himself from sighing as he tenderly, regretfully dismantled her core, piece by careful piece.

The girl shucked a sharp breath and then fell boneless into the arms of Hatake; the tax on her body finally catching up to her in peaceful passing. Her eyes had drifted shut before he finished, and Yukine allowed himself selfish seconds to run his thumb over her bloodied knuckles in shallow comfort.

Attachment brings nothing but demise. How he despised the truth of those words.

Slowly, he sat back and removed himself from the girl's small hand. He didn't heed the fretful urges of Hatake as the man took Sakura-san's weight and felt for her pulse, whispered to her to say something, to open her eyes – he could feel the man's utter ruin as freshly as his own.

Yukine flit deep jade eyes up to the broken archway where once a window had stood and watched as dawn broke its presence over the land, illuminating the horrors of the night in streams of pale gold. As though cowed, the storm receded allowing warmth and light to herald the beginning of an unwanted day.

A dark chuckle rumbled in his chest as symmetry shed its irony around him in soft exposition.

Hadn't Sen departed in much the same circumstances?

A grave sacrifice on the steps of another man's hubris; dawn an unwelcome warmth against the terrors of the night.

No. Sakura-san did not have to be Sen. Yet here he was, an ephemeral witness to their likeness.

Something like grief unwound under his skin, spiralling into the fibres of his being.

On a cautious whim, Yukine cast his senses outward – a shameful search for comfort – and paused when hollowness met his reach. Where once a familiar rot had pulsed, earnest and loyal, now only emptiness existed. A connection severed in the most terminal of ways.

Hansai…

He searched further and exhaled at his sidling relief. That fiery blaze of cherry red, once strong and brilliant still lingered, only now it wavered like a naked flame in a storm.

She was…

Yukine remained knelt by the side of yet another mournful lesson in attachment, and wondered when he had once again become part of his own statistic. Wondered where Fate and tragedy would leave him when already the world beneath his feet was unsteady and his home was but rubble under gentle sunlight.

Would I even be worthy to see you again Sen, if I came to you now?

---

Atsuhiko bared his teeth and stalked towards the filthy Rat, another cluster of spikes proceeding his advance. His blood had instinctually taken on new form, at one with his turbulent mood as it bubbled and hissed like acid against all it touched. The dual whips he wielded slithered and sliced through the stagnant air, heavy chakra pulsing from his being with every step as he rose his arms and clashed upon the mortal.

The Uchiha blurred in speed, narrowly avoiding his strikes and retaliating with a torrent of fire shot forth from his mouth. Atsuhiko thinned his lips, and met the flames head on, as his will surged into being. Gold intertwined with red as his chakra flayed off him in manic fury, the vapours of his blood giving form to create a spherical shield around his person.

Fire billowed around him in soft harmless waves, rolling off his defence – the mortal's surprise barely providing him a flicker of satisfaction when fierce desire consumed him so wholly.

Those eyes shall be mine. The thought continued to chant through his whirling mind, even as he felt the pinpricks of Sakura's essence flicker and flail. She was waiting for him to succeed. She needed his intervention now. Her mortal life rested on his shoulders.

The Uchiha flipped back on himself, amethyst eye flashing to warp himself to and fro – substituting chunks of stone and torn tapestries to meet Atsuhiko's feral blows.

It shall all be mine. Frenzy built a solid armour around his anguish. She will have to choose me! And we will reign together –

A glint of steel flashed in the corner of his vision, and Atsuhiko swiftly jerked to counter the senbon flying at his eye with a hastily extended whip, knocking it cleanly out of the air. The distraction proved enough for the Rat to attempt a head-long assault and Atsuhiko allowed the mortal his foolishness – sparing him an apathetic glare as his chakra shield easily coursed forth to intercept the would-be ruinous blow.

The boy cursed as he was propelled backwards with the strength of his chakra, but Atsuhiko could not bring himself to be entertained by the outcome. His amusement had long dried up, and he let a growl of impatience rip through his chest as he sent an encompassing shockwave from his being to knock the stumbling Uchiha to his knees. Before the Rat could even take a drag of desperate air, Atsuhiko flew towards him in blinding speed.

It was time he end this. The key to his immortality now rested in the head of the Rat once again kneeling before him. And Sakura was waiting for him.

Atsuhiko twisted his wrists and flexed his arms outward as he beared down on the briefly winded man, and with a calculated flick, his Blood Whips lashed outwards either side of the breathless Uchiha only to entangle at his back. Atsuhiko twitched his palms and took immense satisfaction in the Rat's surprise when he realised the futility of his escape. The boy was trapped. None more so than when Atsuhiko pulsed his chakra and manipulated his blood to transform into that of a net, encircling the mortal in his complete helplessness. He saw the alarm in his eyes as the Uchiha realised his position, and Atsuhiko let vindication rest across his shoulders.

May you burn, Uchiha.

With a wet pop, his blood snapped closed around him. He heard the deadly sizzle first. The grizzly sound of his blood making contact as it crackled and burned like acid against the mortal's body, a fine coat of steam distorting the triumphant image. Cold victory settled into the pit of his stomach; the elation of the moment damped by all that it could've been.

Atsuhiko glanced back at Sakura – blindly memorising the way she still looked like a Goddess, draped as she was among the mortals and coloured in ivory and crimson. He had wanted to share this moment with her. To crown her loyalty to him with affection and security – he was prepared to provide for her, as she would've provided for him. Power, and devotion.

Her betrayal had stung more than he could've imagined. A raw tender sting he hadn't felt for eons. Atsuhiko gripped the blood in his palms tighter, the smoky haze of steam drifting around him as the Uchiha continued his silent incineration. And still Atsuhiko only had eyes for his paradoxical mortal.

He lingered in her simmering fear, in her swirling complexities of hope, stubbornness and regret. Still so alluring in her contradicting humanity. He could not refuse her call it seemed… singular as it had become to him. Greed swelled over her coveted presence, the emptiness in his chest latching onto her with possessive hands. They needed each other, now more than ever. And he would simply have to ensure she would never refuse him again either.

Once he had the Uchiha's eyes, he would reclaim absolute power and force her to repent. He would make sure she lived to atone for her sins. So long as they shared in blood and chakra, they would have Eternity together. She clearly had no shortage of dear ones of whom he could easily use as leverage. Distasteful as petty coercion was, she had been given more chances than most. His Goddess needed to learn her place. She would choose him again. He would make sure of it.

Lilac eyes caressed over her glorious image, pure and savage, strong and fragile. The soft golden glow to her ivory skin. The beautiful answer to his soul's desperate call.

Wait for me a little longer, my love. We shall have Eternity.

Suddenly there was a body blocking his perfect view of her. Yukine, moving to crouch in front of his Woman, his palms outstretched and laid upon her womb.

A slither of trepidation traced his spine as Atsuhiko absorbed the strange action. What is he planning? It was only when he went to withdraw his Blood Net from the Uchiha that the tension became apparent. There was a firm tug from the other side of his hold and Atsuhiko frowned at the phenomenon. The clearing of steam gave way to the sight that was a giant purple, spectral hand clawed around the Blood Net and sheltering the Uchiha from where he had summoned the ghostly appendage.

He… holds my blood? …So this a but a shred of his eye's real power.

Outrage gave way to intrigue as Atsuhiko studied the peculiar defence, licking his lips at the notion of such abilities to be his, once championed the Rat's eyes. He let the reins of his Blood go, the substance itself melting into hot, acidic puddles as it crowded around the seething mortal, cloaked in purple and black.

Exhaustion seemed to finally be dawning on the boy as he panted and cried ruby tears – Sakura having done her part in spades. The heat of Atsuhiko's irritation softened in reflection of her useful deeds once more, of the way her purpose never seemed to cease to him.

All he required of her now was but a little repentance. She would atone for her deepest transgression. And it would start with her carving out the Uchiha's heart herself – an eye for an eye, as the mortals say.

She will choose me.

"Impressive." Atsuhiko granted, conceit igniting under his skin. "However, know that you cannot win against me. I can see the evidence of your futility from here. Even with the Pomegranate destroyed, I stand on a level above your comprehension. I will remain long after you lose the ability to stand. Such is – "

His words cut off, a strange yank in his core taking his breath away. Pearlescent eyes tore from the battered Uchiha to lock upon Sakura.

He saw her, rapidly paling and eyes closed as she limply rested in the mortals embrace. He saw Yukine's dull empty stare, hands stained in the red of her blood. And he knew.

Time suspended against reason, and Atsuhiko felt each second pass as a stroke against his imperfect flesh. He felt the receding tides of invigoration, the weight of exhaustion, the pain of impermanence. He felt her slipping right through his fingers.

"What have you done?" The words fell from his lips, from the depth of his being.

All else forgotten, all else meaningless – Atsuhiko flew to her, hands outstretched, chakra calling calling calling to her.

He didn't heed Yukine's strident eyes, his pathetic attempt to shield her from him as the man placed his body between; the traitorous act merely salt in a slowly gaping wound. Bloodied palms rose in combat but fell in inferiority as Atsuhiko lashed the man across the cheek without a second thought, sending him tumbling through the upturned hall; betrayal a blinding affliction.

The Rokudaime was next, with his pitiful display of protection, covering her body with his own when he had all but nothing to offer but a delay to the inevitable; desperation a cruel tormentor.

Atsuhiko spared precious seconds kicking him straight into the advancing Uchiha, both men hitting protruding rubble and crumbling to the ground in a broken mess; hatred a scornful motivator.

Then finally, mercifully,she was in his arms.

"Sakura…"

She was cold. He couldn't feel her.

Yet he could feel everything.

"Sakura!"

Peerless gemstone eyes fluttered open, and Atsuhiko knew he was lost the moment he saw her serene smile.

---

She knew that voice. She knew those hands.

He was calling to her again. Only this time it was her name.

Only her name.

Against better judgment, against the growing numbness of her body, the heaviness of her heart, Sakura opened her eyes to him.

There was tenderness, confusion, terror, and despair written into the panes of his face, in the sheen of his pale lavender eyes as he hovered above her. And Sakura couldn't help her smile. Those emotions were entirely his own.

She was finally, truly free.

"What have you done?" He whispered, carefully trailing his fingertips across her cheek and along the curve of her jaw. Long silver strands fells from his shoulders, caressing her face. "What have you done, my foolish little mortal?"

He sounded so… broken. There was profound sorrow in his gaze, this pained affection that deepened the longer he gazed at her, stroking her cooling skin.

Sakura blinked when she realised she hadn't felt that electric flutter of his touch either, and her smile only grew in radiance.

They're going to be alright. They'll all be safe now.

"We're going together, right?" Her voice sounded distant, but it was hers.

No longer was there a shadow to her words, an echo of another. Simply Sakura.

I'm free.

A tear must've slipped past her eyes for suddenly there was a finger brushing it away, leaving a streak of bright red in its wake. Sakura blinked Atsuhiko back into focus, the ever-present golden glow to his skin visibly dimming under her hazy appraisal. But it was his eyes that drew her attention most of all – those lilac orbs becoming misty with unidentifiable emotions.

Sakura took an uneven breath, a stranger forming before her very eyes. Some distant part of her felt bereft of the knowledge of him – a gaping hole where something once intimately belonged. But she banished the faint sense of loss as she laid in his careful embrace, his face contorting in unfamiliar ways the longer he peered at her, the longer he ran his hands over her unresponsive skin.

This stranger to her soul.

At long last he dipped his chin until his forehead rested against hers. Familiar her body whispered, final her mind decreed.

"So, this is your choice, Woman?"

His words were dipped in something like anguish, but Sakura could only grin at her growing ineptitude to know him. The triumph of freedom, the reclamation of her strength – borrowed as her time was – outstripped all else.

"This will eternally be my choice."

My team always comes first. It's the only choice that's ever mattered. This is my Will of Fire!

With a final burst of energy, Sakura rose a hand to Atsuhiko's cheek – the action led by a peculiar mix of relief and muted compassion. She had once shared in his pain after all, shared with him more deeply and intrinsically than anyone else in existence. That kind of connection always was going to scar.

She knew him, once. He was her terrible burden. But her shoulders were strong enough for the both of them one last time. And so, she smiled.

"Don't you think it's time to go home now, Atsuhiko?"

Home. Green gates. The hospital. Training ground three. Her little kitchen.

"Someone must be waiting for you…"

Her Shishou's proud smile. Her father's laugh. Her mother's hug. Ino's teasing. Team Seven.

Yes. She was ready too.

…You can take me home now, Kakashi. Please, bring Team Seven home.

She was ready to go…

---

Atsuhiko watched, hollowed to the bone as Sakura's hand fell limply from his face, her consciousness following. He was completely numb to her presence, even as he held her in his arms. Completely separated. A rift torn open, a heart carved out, his essence stolen from him, his future, his home gone.

This soul, torn in two.

Shattered, Atsuhiko could do nothing more than turn his forehead against hers, breathing in the soft air she breathed out. His little mortal, all fragile strength and burning passion, too easily snuffed by her devotion to others… Always choosing others.

Something ugly gurgled under his skin, yet Atsuhiko forbade the sickly emotion from tainting this moment with her. Affection and tenderness were all that existed within him as Atsuhiko closed the final inch of distance between them; bestowing a kiss upon her cool tulip lips.

"Wait for me, Sakura. I will bring us Home…"

There was a grunt to his left, a curse from his right and Atsuhiko lifted dark lavender eyes up at the men responsible, a mounting hatred poisoning him. They had taken everything from him.

Caution and loathing wrapped its arms around each of the mortals rising to face him, their eyes darting to the unconscious woman in his arms, then back to him in wary repulsion.

An unnamed wrath festered in Atsuhiko's splintered soul at their mere sight, at their scuffed appearance and pathetic struggle. He hated what they were. He hated what they had done. The emptiness of his core, the way it screeched for Sakura's clawed at him with a ferocity that could not be ignored – like a rodent caught in a trap, scrambling and whimpering for its freedom. That weak, pathetic struggle.

So this is what it feels like to be man… to be made inferior.

He hated the weakness of his mortal flesh. Truly and equivocally one of them.

With a fleeting glance at the peaceful woman in his arms, Atsuhiko made his own choice. Dirty, selfish, survivors. That's what they were. That's what he was too now.

Well then, may he prove to be King the way Rat's proved anything amongst themselves.

Detestation melted into vengeance, and Atsuhiko rose, Sakura a symbol of his making as she dangled limply in his hold. There was an undeniable filth to him now. He felt it as freshly as his roiling, bubbling chakra, spiking fitfully under his skin.

"You will all die here today. And with your bones I shall crown myself King of your wretched world. I shall make her Home."

With that, it began again. The desperate, dirty scramble of men, equal but for the blood they shed in battle.

---

Yamato didn't know where to look. All around him was chaos. The sound had heralded the sight, and yet still those battle-cries could not have prepared him for what he stumbled in upon. Black fire – those terrible inexhaustible flames – hedged the angered God in from all angles as Sasuke cast rings around him.

Yamato's eyes widened. Sakura! She was in the God's arms and confined there by Sasuke's own making, could die there! He took a startled step forward, dimly registering Naruto's own confused horror at the sight; both their arms still hampered by their respective weights.

Then there was a flash of light, the dark-haired stranger – Yukine – tossing perfectly aimed kunai at the God from multiple vantage points as he raced around the fire's edge.

Confusion grew into terror– the reckless condemnation of Sakura's life – happening before their very eyes. A shout was halfway out his mouth when the earth shifted and from beneath the God's feet outshot Kakashi.

Yamato and Naruto watched in abstract shock as Sakura was ripped from the God's grasp and into Kakashi's; the man fluidly leaping from the burning flames unto the outstretched purple palm of Sasuke's Sussano arm.

The escape was narrow, as Atsuhiko reacted with ferocious upheaval – the earth itself trembling as it splintered and broke with an unleash of unstable pure chakra, sending everyone into a fit of disarray.

Yamato cursed and leapt sideways to avoid a fissure of cracked earth, his path briefly separating him from Naruto as the boy dodged a piece of flaming debris. Ara let out a startled breath with the harsh movement and Yamato had half the mind to spare sympathy for whomever had once called this place home.

When he looked back up, it was to yet another sight which struck dread down his spine. Black flames were now fragmented about the entire area, burning strong even as they split and wavered consuming all in its path. Sasuke was reengaging with the God, blood-crusted cheeks and eyes a terrible sign as he beat down upon the howling man wielding blood like weapons.

His eyes found Yukine next, back straight and attention half-split between the chaos around him and the pair huddled on the ground at his feet.

At Sakura bleeding out in Kakashi's lap.

"No." The whisper fell from Naruto's lips a second before the boy was racing towards her, instinctually dodging the airborne jutsu and thorns of blood as they propelled from the enraged ninja duelling to the seeming death.

Yamato was only steps behind, eyes darting as he absorbed and assessed the horrific situation they had just run headfirst into.

"Oh Yuki… how could you let it g-get so… messy." Ara babbled into his shoulder, eyes fluttering as she groaned with his movement.

He didn't stop until he was beside the Sensor, those dark emerald eyes passing fleetingly over him until they locked strictly on the woman in his arms. Yamato wasted no time in passing Ara over to him, falling to his knees next to Kakashi where Naruto had carefully placed Sai at Sakura's left.

"What happened?"

Sakura wasn't moving. She was still and bleeding and Kami how could this have happened?

"S-she… Sakura – "

"Sakura-san displayed great courage and fortitude of strength in making a difficult decision." Kakashi was saved from answering by the flat voice of Yukine.

"What the hell does that mean?" Naruto exploded, hands held fretfully over Sai and Sakura both. His bright cerulean eyes swung to Kakashi, when the Senor would not elaborate. "Sensei please – "

"She gave us the advantage we need to end this fight. She destroyed the Pomegranate… and – ", Kakashi grit his teeth, hands never leaving their precious position over her wounded side. "She made him mortal."

Yamato frowned and flit his eyes back to the God as he let out a primal roar and transformed his whip into a thousand spears of blood, careening towards Sasuke. Naruto followed his line of sight and growled, lifting from his knees to set his animalistic stare upon Atsuhiko.

"You need to wake Sakura-chan up so she can heal herself, Sensei." Naruto commanded, rolling his shoulders back. "She's going to be fine. Sakura-chan's the strongest person I know." Then he paused, his eyes straying to Yukine, a heaviness to his voice. "Hansai's body is yours now. Don't let his life be in vain."

Then he was stalking forward, red and orange streaking off him like cloak as he hunted down a dead God, the rumble of a beast snarling past cracked, tight lips. "I'm ending this."

A split second of worry had Yamato's attention rivetted to the boy's golden back as he leapt into battle, a wounded cry escaping him as he shot forth, his hands still stained a raw red.

"Open your eyes for me, Sakura. Come on, I need you to stay with me."

Kakashi's firm chanting tore him away from the brutal sight, and Yamato felt his fears stack on top of him with the weight of a mountain.

"Why hasn't she healed herself yet?" The words left his mouth before he could rethink his readiness to hear the answer. "Her Byakugou – "

He wasn't at all prepared to see Kakashi's watery eyes as the man finally glanced up at him.

"She destroyed her chakra core, so that you would have a chance at killing him." Once more it was Yukine who answered him, those jade eyes of his blank as he stared solemnly at Kakashi and Sakura.

Yamato felt his hair raise on edge. "What?"

"She was correct in her theory." Yukine continued, practiced apathy a flimsy shield against his deep frown. "Atsuhiko has become unstable – the perfect equilibrium of power and control now at odds without one to balance the other. His core is growing erratic, volatile. He has only a finite amount of chakra now, no longer able to produce any himself as his own core withered long ago. Though I doubt he realises any of this. His attachment has clouded his eyes and weakened his strength."

The Sensor closed his eyes and took a careful breath. "Too long was he sustained by that Seal, it became him. His system cannot function without direct support, without her. What he has now is all that remains of his former connection to Sakura-san. 'A contradictory advantage.' …For all his gifts, he overlooked her, underestimated the truth strength of their connection."

Dark emerald eyes slid open. "For she is mortal, death was bound to him the moment she was. When she passes he will truly no longer have a link to tether him to this realm, if he does not already die before that time comes. I sense Uchiha and Uzumaki both will ensure such swift finality."

Yamato's stomach fell out from him, his mouth bone dry. "But then… are you saying that if we kill him, Sakura might die as well?"

A hot spike of killing intent suddenly flared from his Senpai as Kakashi whirled steely eyes towards the Sensor, a snarl parting his lips.

"You knew – "

And Yamato swore he saw red in his iris.

"I have nothing to offer but estimation, Kakashi." Yukine interrupted, "Her core is shut off from his, their chakra connection ceased. However, the issue of his blood within her veins remains. I cannot account for the outcome of such means. Her life is once more in Fate's hands."

Ara tilted glassy honey eyes up at the man, regret clear on her dirty face. "Kami, Yuki what have we done?"

At once Yamato was on his feet and before them, kunai raised and pointed. "And I suppose you expect us to believe that you've just lost interest in your God and all your plans? After everything you're just rolling over for him to die?"

Ara lolled her head into the nape of Yukine's neck with a harsh laugh, "He's not my fucking God."

Yukine shifted with her movement and merely stared down the point of the blade. He hesitated, eyes flitting once to Kakashi then back to him. "I…was blind then."

Incensed frustration coloured his vision, and Yamato bellowed, "What are you – "

"Tenzou. Leave them." Kakashi's voice ripped him from his standoff, and Yamato found himself abruptly speechless by the terrified look in his Senpai's grey eyes. "I… I don't know what to do."

Almond eyes darted from teammate to teammate, a mosaic of disaster arranged before him. Disarrays of chakra, pools of blood, and the utter desperation to put back the broken pieces before the picture became unrecognisable.

"We can't let Naruto and Sasuke kill Atsuhiko. He has to be sealed or incapacitated. We won't risk Sakura's life like that." Yamato commanded, though his legs remained like lead, indecision rooting him to the spot.

Could he afford to leave long enough to get the message through to the boys? He needed to defend Kakashi and Sakura, outnumbered and outmatched as they were against hostiles. But Sakura and Sai needed dire medical attention – they needed Tsunade-sama herself! And he needed to do something before it was too late for anything!

"I will relay your message." The Senor said, lowering himself to carefully place Ara's body to the right of Sakura, the woman immediately arching to press herself close to the girl. Dark jade eyes settled upon him, a threat passed between. "I ask only for your trust."

Suspicion sent his fingers twitching, though all Yamato could truly seem to muster was a glare, entrenched as he was in his own sliding urgencies.

"Shut up and g-go, Yuki." Ara hissed, turning her head to scowl at them both. "They won't hurt me… the idiots."

The man stayed only a moment longer, gaze unreadable as he swept his eyes across them before quickly lifting to his feet and striding towards the haze of battle in the near distance.

"You can trust Yuki, Baby." Ara murmured, her eyes softening as she stared after him. "He's got a d-damn saviour complex."

Mistrust soured back into dread, and Yamato curled his fingers until they ached, his eyes straying between his scattered teammates. What could he do? What could he do when his team had been torn in two, and his were never the hands of healing?

Still, Kakashi's eyes bore into his with a terror so tangible, Yamato wanted nothing more than to physically tear the pain away from him. A rough yell ricocheted off broken stone walls and Yamato jerked at the sound of Naruto's cry. His hand spasmed over Sai's cooling body, scores of wounds making him all but unrecognisable.

What could he do?

"Stop fucking around! Don't you let her die!" It was Ara who drove a sword through his scattering thoughts, pinning him with a deadly point. "You came here to save her, so fucking do something!"

Her words sparked lucidity. And with hands quicker than lightning, Yamato roughly searched the confines of Sai's waist pouch, swiftly locating Karin's med-kit. The vials of her blood! He glanced back up in time to see the whites of Kakashi's eyes as they widened in keen relief.

And Yamato wanted to scream when he realised. "There's only one." His tongue was like sandpaper as he scraped the words out.

What could he do?!

At once, Kakashi's gaze grew sharp, the hard lines of stubbornness and authority carving his face. "It'll be enough."

---

Colours moved in abstract shapes as Sasuke blurred through space. He didn't heed the blinding pain behind his eyes screaming the edge of his limit. He pushed forward. A drop of acidic blood flecked against his hair as he warped under Atsuhiko's wild swing. His katana grazed fabric, nicked flesh and then he was gone, flickering between the narrow openings the God's erraticism created.

There was mad fury in his light eyes, a crack of mayhem to his crooked smile. Blood streaked in places along his pale skin, his perfect exterior breaking. The God was unravelling. Whatever the hell Sakura had done, it was working.

A spasm of raw chakra pulsed from Atsuhiko then, rocking the earth and Sasuke had to abandon the trajectory of his next strike when the shockwave knocked a flaming stone column clean into his path. He reappeared to the right of the God and had already begun cycling chakra to his palm when he was sent once more on the defensive; a thousand spears of blood careening towards his position.

Adrenaline spiked, yet it was the blinding pain to his eyes that had him faltering when his world titled briefly on its axis. A curse slipped his lips, eyes roughly spinning with indecision. But then a blur of orange and gold blocked his hazing vision.

Sasuke watched in muted surprise as Naruto appeared, wielding his own chakra like a cloak and shielded them both from the torrent of projectiles. Steam erupted at the contact, a harsh hiss piercing their ears as Naruto grabbed hold of his collar and swept them both behind the safety of a large flaming piece of debris. Sasuke didn't realise he had been leaning on him until Naruto was carefully setting him back on his feet.

"Sorry it took me so long, Teme." The blond murmured, eyes fierce and cold in a way Sasuke had rarely seen. "But I'm here now. So let's end this."

A hysterical laugh sliced the air, Atsuhiko's perfect image cracking in the face of his new-found humanity. "So the great Uchiha asks for help once again. Oh this is indeed grand. How shall you ruin this one, Rat? Shall it be stabbed in the back? Or do you prefer to see the light leave their eyes as you drive them through?"

Rage burned cold as Atsuhiko's words poked him, and it was only Naruto's hard brace that halted his senseless propel forward.

"Shut up." Naruto clipped. "I don't care for a word that comes out of your mouth."

Once more, surprise shuddered down Sasuke's spine at the calm vengeance that was flaring off Naruto. It took only a glance to see the sharp orange ring which blazed at the centre of his bright sapphire iris'.

A fine crease thundered down Atsuhiko's brow, pearly eyes narrowing. "You dare speak to your King like that? A beast like you should know your place, in the cage where you belong!"

Blood and chakra mingled in quick, volatile movements and then a swarm of arrows appeared, darkening the very sky in numbers. Naruto wasted no time, a roar pushing past his lips as he sprang ahead, blurring into hundreds as they swarmed to intercept the attack.

Sasuke set his jaw against the nausea pulling at him and glared at the scene, calculating for an opening between the dozens of clones meeting their end in hot, acidic vapours.

Then, a whisper of air shifted at his back and Sasuke twisted, drawing his katana up to hold the length of his blade against the neck of the man behind him.

"Take another step and your life ends." He could feel the dried blood on his cheeks cracking as he spoke, though his eyes never left the composed face of Yukine as the man deftly avoided his gaze.

"I merely have a message, Uchiha."

There was spite in the way the Senor said his name and Sasuke thinned his lips, pressing his blade until a line of blood was drawn.

"It'd better be worth your life."

Cold apathy was all that met him. "You must not kill Atsuhiko. You and Uzumaki must seal him or else find a way to disable him permanently. Sakura-san's life depends on the difference."

A fresh ruby tear spilled over his cheek as his Sharingan flared with the threat.

"And what makes you think I'd believe a word you say, bastard." His anger burned cold, and Sasuke had to stop himself from severing the man's head from his shoulders in righteous fury. "Least of all when it would spare his fucking life."

Like hell would he trust the poisoned words of Atsuhiko's right hand man. He would sooner cut off his last arm than let himself be manipulated by God's and their pets. He would kill each and every one of them for their transgressions against his team. Against Sakura. He was here for their retribution, nothing less. That was his task; his role to play when his only constant in life was his ability to hurt.

"It matters not what you believe, only the action you take." A familiar yell sounded a fraction before a wet hiss rocked the area, and Sasuke heard Atsuhiko's spiteful curse. Still neither moved, the older man merely tilted his chin at him, calm as he remained. "Is your vengeance worth her life?"

That had him faltering; a sore wound pierced with a dirty blade. Sasuke gripped his katana until his knuckles went white, his hand itching to exact punishment on the deserving when they were just so close.

"And whom will you punish when you have none to blame but yourself?" The man said softly, knowingly. "You'll carry that weight, Uchiha. Though something tells me you already do."

Sasuke didn't let him see the way his words sent a complete shudder through his body; the shiver of his soul at being so easily read by his enemy. The only proof of his distress was yet another ruby tear cresting his cheek as his eyes spun spun spun.

Then the Sensor sighed, his eyes lifting to meet his Sharingan head on without a trace of fear, only bitter contempt for reasons Sasuke could never hope to understand.

"Yours is a path of crossroads…The choice is yours. And yet it shall affect more than you could imagine. Choose well, Uchiha. This is your lesson."

Then, as though it had merely been his choice to be held ransom by a knife's edge, Yukine flickered out of sight. And Sasuke blinked, the space he left behind leaving him with the perfect view of Sakura, gently cradled among the rest of their team – the path his choices had led her.

"Fuck."

By the time Sasuke caught up with Naruto, he was plucking him out of the air to avoid a wave of volatile chakra, and warping them to the crumbling stature of the roof. Thin rays of sunlight coloured their dirty faces as they glanced at one another.

"What's the plan, Sasuke?"

Bile rose in the back of his throat but Sasuke swallowed it down. "Do you have enough chakra to seal him?"

Blue eyes squinted at him, and then they both leapt sideways to avoid the slash of a whip. "Yeah. Kurama and I have more than enough." He growled, wiping his forehead with a charred sleeve.

"Aa." Sasuke tensed his jaw as he considered his own question. "I should have enough." Then he caught Naruto's eyes, letting severity steel his tone. "If he dies, so does Sakura."

The shadow that passed over Naruto's face was dark with vengeance and Sasuke had a fleeting moment to wonder at the path he had walked to lead him to such obvious hatred. For the first time, he saw the scores of purple and brown stains which were riddled along his teammates skin and clothes, echoing patches of soot and burns.

"Then I guess we should stop wasting time." With that, the blond was diving towards the screeching God.

And Sasuke was left with the imprint of sheer regret as he followed his lead.

I never should have involved them in this…

---

There was a distant crash, a roar of chakra echoed by the roar of his teammates as Naruto and Sasuke faced off against the ailing God. But Kakashi only had eyes for the woman slowly dying in his lap. The vial of Karin's blood was a fragile weight in his blood-slicked fingers as he grappled carefully with it, panic making his hands quake where practice had once built them steady. His eyes darted from body to body; Sai crested in Tenzou's embrace, Sakura in his own and a river of blood between.

There was only one vial. He just prayed one would be enough. It had to be.

"Stop."

The glass tube almost slipped clean from his fingers and Kakashi let a growl escape his scrambled composure. He didn't expect Yukine's hand to come over his own as he appeared beside him, a thin trail of blood across his neck.

Kakashi jerked from under his touch, hackles raised and ready to bite. "What are you – "

"…Her body is already overwhelmed with foreign blood as well as her own struggling against it. She has been suffering chakra poisoning, and no longer has a functioning chakra core to process any chakra-antibodies." Yukine uttered quietly. "Her system is compromised and if you attempt to inundate her with chakra-imbued blood, she will be overcome. You will kill her."

His anger faltered in the face of the rationale, and Kakashi found himself looking from Yukine's quelling stare to Tenzou's worry-creased eyes. Those precious seconds wasted clawed at him and helplessness surged back into control with eager hands.

"You expect me to sit here and watch her fucking die?" He ripped his hand out from under Yukine's and uncapped the vial, his knuckles white.

"She will die sooner if you intervene in this way." Yukine's hand came to rest back at his wrist, "Save the boy. It's all you can do. But they will both die if you attempt to share that blood between them."

Kakashi didn't realise he was trembling until Yukine sighed, his eyes flashing with the barest hint of consolation as he curled his fingers firmly over his wrist. "Sakura-san was a medic, correct? I think you would know her choice."

Kakashi tensed. "Don't you dare presume – "

"Kakashi."

He twitched at the voice and his head was shaking before he could even fathom what was really happening. "Tenzou, don't ask me to – "

"I'm not, Kakashi." The younger man said firmly, hardly a shard of horror buckling his resolve for such an impossible choice. "This is my operation. My responsibility. Let me take this burden."

And Kakashi hated Tenzou in that moment. Hated that he was having to make the call for them, because Kakashi never would. His fingers tightened once more around the vial and he distantly acknowledged that Yukine's hand had yet to leave his wrist as he gazed achingly down at Sakura. Her breathing was shallow, her cheeks long lost their rosy glow as she serenely rested with her head pillowed on thighs.

He couldn't do this. He couldn't just give up on her. He had promised –

"I promised I would bring her home."

His voice was gravelly and against the roaring of blood in his ears, he felt Yukine's quiet exhale as the man continued his hold; a nudge of calm gently knocking against him. Instincts warned against the intrusion, at the invasion of his grief and yet, Kakashi found his strength departed to the sole purpose of Sakura. He wouldn't give up on her. Couldn't. Not until his last breath.

"I'll give her a sweet dream, Guard Dog." Ara's rasp jolted him from his sliding thoughts, and he saw from the corner of his eyes, the way she had curled around Sakura, lacing a hand through hers. "She won't feel any pain. All you have to do is hold her through it…" Her eyes flickered up to his, a shrewd smile on her pained face. "Our Princess is strong and fearless, don't forget."

Then the vial was being extracted from his fingers, Tenzou carefully relieving him of his greatest failure. And Kakashi, with nothing else to hold on to, collapsed in on himself. He hunched over Sakura, hands cupping her cheeks, transfixing on her side as he memorised every curve and line of her – as he willed her to hold on. Willed her not to go…

"I… I could make it so you don't feel pain either, Kakashi." Yukine murmured, hand clasped over wrist.

"No." Kakashi cut, breath hitching. "I've travelled that path once… No."

"Your attachment is killing you both."

But it was an easy choice. And Kakashi knew would rather die today than live the rest of his life never knowing how much Sakura truly meant to him.

"I'm not like you, Yukine. And Sakura is not Sen." A deep breath rattled his lungs, and something like faith trickled its way back in as he gazed at the impossible woman in his arms. "I'm not giving up on her." Cause she's never once given up on me.

There was another heavy rumble of destruction in the near distance and Kakashi had half the mind to worry for the boys; worry that they would not find the solutions they sought waging war as they were against the mortal God. That worry was swiftly replaced by sheer dread at what they would find when they returned.

"Kakashi." Tenzou called, a gentle urge for his attention. "Sai won't last much longer."

Was all he said, and Kakashi let his gaze drift back to Sai's pale, pale features, painted in cerise. It stood out as unnaturally red against Sai's fair flesh – like streams of lava flowing through snow. The sight hauled his heart further into his stomach and Kakashi saw the way Tenzou's grip had come to mirror his own – desperate hands holding onto what they could.

When his words wouldn't obey, Kakashi simply nodded. Yukine was right. He knew Sakura's choice. That didn't stop him from hating it. Hating himself for hating it. Silence dragged as Tenzou carefully adjusted Sai's body and began administering Karin's blood. Kakashi tried to hold onto that flicker of relief as Sai took the liquid through cold lips; a candle of hope against an ocean of despair. His fingers blindly found Sakura's crown and he started gliding them through her hair, counting her breaths and biting back the wetness that cornered his eyes.

Come on, Sakura. All you have to do is hold on. Just… hold on for me.

He hardly noticed when Ara's fingers came to slide along his own in Sakura's bloodied pink hair, a soft smile to her ruby lips.

"So b-beautiful, our Princess." She praised, letting out a stilted exhale. Her smile turned wistful as she tilted her chin back. "Yuki Baby, won't you tell me I'm pretty?" Fondness coloured her eyes at whatever she saw. "Mm, there's that frown I've been just dying to see. So you do care?"

"Do not speak, Ara." Yukine rebuked, concern obvious where disapproval had waned.

"Mm, you'd like that wouldn't you? For me to s-shut up and let you have the last words on my deathbed." She writhed back around, curling her body protectively around Sakura's. "Well tough shit, Honey. I'm damn insubordinate, didn't you know?"

Kakashi watched through unseeing eyes, the way Ara tenderly stroked up the length of Sakura's arm and whispered gentle encouragements into her ear, telling her all the ways she was exceptional, powerful, invincible. He numbly catalogued Yukine's twitch towards Ara as she struggled for each breath, regret swathing him like a well-worn cloak. He only felt the Sensor's aborted jolt towards her because of the man's refusal to let go.

And something in him gave way that final, aching inch.

"Take her and go." Kakashi breathed, shoulders slumped.

Yukine hid his surprise behind his stillness. And perhaps tragedy had come to weigh upon him too, for he merely uttered quietly to the ground. "Do you not wish to enact retribution upon me, Kakashi? …I am not innocent of her blood."

Had he the capacity, something might've snapped in him. But Kakashi was far too spent to hold onto his anger anymore, not while every second with Sakura was precious.

"Stop hiding, Yukine." He said, jaded and just so tired. "Go… Live the life Sen always wanted for you."

One of them should, while they still had a damn chance. Something told him Sakura would've approved, and that was enough for Kakashi.

Yukine bowed his head, fingers briefly tightening on his wrist. "…He would not be proud of me."

"Then you better start making better choices."

They owed that much to their ghosts, didn't they? His lessons were carved in stone, his reasons both behind and in front of him. And Kakashi couldn't stand to see another precious person lost to a 'lesson' – not when there was still breath in their lungs, strength in their bodies to do something about it.

"That freedom is yours, Yukine. Now go."

He didn't know which part of him had made the choice for forgiveness when in his arms rested all the proof he needed to condemn. Perhaps it was the part of him that craved the mercy himself – that in some abstract way, maybe if he could forgive them, he could forgive himself. He didn't dwell on it though.

His fingers resumed their careful glide through pink locks, his eyes soaking up every lash, every perfect curve of her delicate face. She was strong. So strong. And she wouldn't leave them like this. Not his stubborn, wilful Sakura. His faith in her didn't surprise him, but it was the twitch in his stomach that poured ice-cold water over him.

A surge of dizziness threated to send him sideways, and abruptly he was reminded that his faith would mean nothing if he wasn't around to bask in the relief of 'I told you so'. Self-loathing had only just begun to wind its fingers around his throat when he felt the Senor shift beside him.

Kakashi didn't move as Yukine's fingers cautiously unfurled from his wrist, instead snaking his arm between to carefully plant his hand against his abdomen. Then, with a gentle flare, he felt his chakra network quietly switch off; his chakra leak temporarily abated. A debt repaid. He met Yukine's eyes as the man withdrew, and saw only humble sincerity in his open expression.

"Ara, we are leaving." Yukine slowly turned his gaze upon the woman.

Ara shook her head feebly, her exposed stomach coloured in violent blacks and purples as she struggled to move. "No, Yuki. I wanna s-stay." She coiled closer to Sakura, whimpering. "She doesn't deserve to go like this."

Then Yukine's hand was gliding along the woman's bloodied temple, hesitant as he was gentle. "…You followed me this far. Let me lead you unto a better path, Ara."

The way Ara sucked in a sharp breath and watched him with guarded, hopeful eyes made Kakashi question everything he thought he knew about them, if only distantly.

"Yuki, you b-bastard." She said, turning into his touch, a solitary tear sliding free of her glossy eyes.

"Sakura-san is strong." He told her. "We have done enough, Ara. Let her companions have their peace. She is not alone."

There was a heavy pause as Ara drew her gaze back to Sakura and then to Yukine. It was with great reverence that she tilted her head towards Sakura's pale, dirty cheeks and placed a tender kiss at the corner of her mouth, fingers firmly wrapped around long pink locks. "Sweet dreams, Princess. May we meet again."

And then Ara was swept up in Yukine's arms and the pair sombrely lingered, the faint sounds of their God dying at their backs.

"May we meet again, Kakashi." Yukine echoed, face softened in the dawn's early light. "In Sen's name I leave in peace…" He took a step, then locked Kakashi under sympathetic viridian eyes. "Do not lose yourself, even should you lose her."

Kakashi grit his teeth and turned away. "Go."

He didn't hear them depart, just as he didn't hear Sai's faint coughing or Naruto's fierce yell.

All he heard, all he felt, all he saw was Sakura, her too cold hands and her swiftly paling skin.

"You impossible, stubborn, wilful woman." I believe in you.

---

He couldn't control it. The screeching in his soul, the way his chakra hissed and gurgled each time he tried to draw upon it – unsteady, uncooperative. The imprint of her presence was fading with each passing second, and Atsuhiko was aware that above all else, it was fear that shot hot fire through his veins.

The Uzumaki and Uchiha were relentless in their charge. Atsuhiko snarled at the sting of steel against his skin, carving into him each time his chakra failed to shield him. He felt the cold burn of pain burrow into his body when his blood slipped from his control and left him open to attack.

He was dying. He was dying because she was dying. All he had left of her was her chakra slipping through his fingers like water. And all she had of him was his blood, leaving her like a river. They were losing one another. Just as he was losing himself.

He noticed the change in the mortals' attack patterns – their aims altering from lethal to merely incapacitating. Yet still, he could not seem to stem their assaults nor could he hold out against their aggressive offense.

Atsuhiko saw the blond boy appear from the corner of his eye, palm open and outstretched. Blood shot out to meet him, spearing him through. A puff of smoke had his attention abruptly turning to his left to do the same to the Uchiha flying towards him, hand empty and aimed at his chest.

Surprise had his feet faltering, yet his blood bent to his frantic will and stabbed the Rat through his shoulder. Another puff of smoke, another wild spin to exterminate the ceaseless clones coming one by one. Atsuhiko twisted, clumsily drawing up blood and chakra in sharp, agitated movements to meet the predictable charges, impatience shedding off of him.

It was tiring, and the mere notion drove him further into disarray.

"Hold still you vermin!"

The hundreds of twins of Uzumaki's and Uchiha had swarmed and mingled, stepping up relentlessly to meet their ends, and Atsuhiko could do nothing but impale them over and over again. Smoke was coming to distort his very view, the multitudes of clones perishing around him creating a fine mist through which he struggled to strategize.

Anger pulsed, and yet his chakra was reluctant to answer his will. His control was becoming slippery, difficult. And still, something far loathsome troubled him. There was a toll on his body. He felt lightheaded with it.

His blood. He was losing too much blood. Pools dripped from his palms and onto the ground at his feet. Scores were continuously vaporized as he wielded it to stab through his foe. The acid of his hatred was melting, the sharpness to his desire blunted as his power grew weak over his control.

I am…losing to humanity.

The thought sent a harsh pang of killing intent from his being and, lifting hard lilac eyes he drew up his spite and screamed. In forced manifestation his chakra and blood infused to take out the wretched Rats in one fell swoop. Barbs of blood thorned off him and shot outwards, piercing his foes in inescapable speed as they expanded to imbed through the last shreds of stone that housed their terrible fight. A halo of destruction crowned his shaking figure as his blood hardened and held, a cage of his own making surrounding him in victory.

Atsuhiko panted as a thick layer of smoke signified his success, a grunt somewhere in the near distance bringing him grim satisfaction of the Rat's end. His blood and chakra held in its solid form, and a harsh cough burst from his grinning lips. He drew a shaky hand up to his mouth and smiled at the blood on his lips.

"So this is the price of divinity." His lungs rattled in discomfort and Atsuhiko blinked tired eyes around the shifting of smoke, slowly revealing two singular forms impaled on his ultimate defence.

Pain slowly melted into triumph as he studied the bodies of the Uzumaki and the Uchiha both, still as they were dangling from his deadly strike. Their heads were lolled against their chests, his superiority piercing them through in finality.

It was over. He had won. All that was left was to rip those eyes from the Rat's head and start anew.

It was pride and anticipation which had his head turning towards her. The visceral urge to share this moment with his soon-to-be Goddess and have her reconcile the greatness he would return to her breast.

And that was his fatal mistake.

Eyes locked on her petal skin, Atsuhiko did not see until it was too late. He didn't see the twin puffs of smoke as the final two bodies disappeared into nothingness. He didn't see the way the mortals emerged out of thin air directly at his side, landing in the liminal space between his body and his blood. He didn't see their grim hatred and determination as they closed their palms against his side.

But oh, did he feel.

Feral orange engulfed his vision as the blond mortal snarled at him, sounding more beast than human. "May you burn in the fires you set ablaze, pitiful God. We will see you die among the rats and roaches, just as you were always intended."

Then it was those perfect orbs of purple and red which caught his eyes, the look of pure detestation on the worn face of his ultimate failure. "This is the price you pay for touching her."

Pain was but a flicker when regret was so bright. The pull was strong against his chest, a violent extraction from his very being forced into nothingness. And in some twist of irony he felt time pass as never before; felt the preciousness of an existence not guaranteed.

It passed in slow, agonising seconds as 'life' flashed before his dimming eyes. All that he was, all that he could've been reduced to a terrible 'almost'. A fleeting thought occurred to him that there was a strange beauty in a mortal's struggle for life when death was so easy. A whole array of experiences and desires to be fulfilled in such an infinitesimal amount of time, surely one could never grow bored or weary.

What a beautiful challenge, he had never understood.

Yet, against his inevitability, only one desire remained. His eyes desperately swung to her, his little mortal waiting so patiently. So good, so precious.

"Woman."

Eternity had arrived for him, and he could no longer hold her Fate in his red stained hands.

"Sakura…"

Before he had to face it without her, there was only one thing he wanted. Needed.

A harsh snap of light sent his longing reeling, time almost gone gone gone.

"Please." Let me see those green eyes… one last time.

Through the haze of white it was only one colour that stood out to him, forever drenching her in his memory.

The bright red of his blood which coloured her so ironically in his Will…

…and forever entrapped him in hers.

The paradox burned cold in his fragmented soul, yet he smiled.

And so you kept your promise, Sakura.

With a final tug, Atsuhiko was gone.

---

Yukine's breath hitched as he stood upon the fresh indents of turned snow; the harsh wail of longing evaporating at his back.

Its call sent shivers down his spine, and something tugged at his chest as it was abruptly snapped out of existence. In its wake was calm, and Yukine found himself unsettled against the peaceful quiet. "So it is finished."

Then the woman in his arms was murmuring, turning her cold nose into the warmth of his chest, her consciousness lost. Her weight a priceless responsibility. He cast a look at her, at the scroll she now clutched in her arms… the scroll which contained Hansai's remains.

He knew he would carry Hansai's existence in his heart just as he carried his blood on his hands. He was just a boy who wanted somewhere to belong, and Fate had left him shackled to one as displaced as he. He had failed him, he knew that now.

Yukine bit his tongue. He had so much to answer for, and yet he had been sentenced his freedom. Freedom when all he had ever wanted was oblivion. Wetness stung his eyes as he stared at the open world ahead, a maze of paths laid at his cold, unmoving feet.

'Then you better start making better choices.'

White mist curled around his lips as he tipped his head back and breathed to the sky. "I'm sorry, Sen. It appears my journey in this world has not yet ended." He dipped his head to Ara, and traced her form with gentle eyes. "Not when there are those I must do better by."

As though in agreeance, a crack of sunlight peered through the grey morning clouds, setting the snow alight in golden white glimmers as it trailed its way through the frosted forest.

And Yukine smiled, the softness of it witnessed by no one but the winter sun itself.

"Then I shall follow the path you left for me, Sen."

---

Naruto didn't know what to look at. He didn't understand; and that was more of fight than anything he'd faced in the last twenty-four hours. Nothing was as it should be, which was ridiculous because they had won! The God was sealed, nothing left of him to claw his way back when he was torn from time and space. He and Sasuke had made sure of it.

They had won.

So why was Sai still pale and littered in deep gashes, Yamato madly trying to wake him. And why was Sakura –

"Why isn't she healed?"

The voice was Sasuke's and yet the words were echoing through his mind on relentless loop.

She wasn't moving. She didn't even look like she was breathing. Which was impossible because Sakura-chan is the most alive person he knows.

"Sasuke, don't move her – "

"Why hasn't she healed herself yet?"

Why wasn't she waking up? Why hadn't her seal healed her? The God was done and gone, so why?

" – she said her Byakugou would heal her!"

"Sasuke!" Kakashi had caught his arm from where he was pulling at Sakura, and Naruto shook his head at the anguish in his Sensei's eyes.

"Sakura can't heal herself… Not this time."

He didn't understand.

---

Sasuke breathed sharply through his nose, his eyes spinning intensely as he frantically studied Sakura's barely moving chest, her bare forehead, and blood that was colouring her so completely red.

She lied to me. His mind latched onto that thought with ruthless ferocity. She lied to me!

He wouldn't let her damn well get away with lying to him like that. Not after she said - ! Sasuke grabbed her body from Kakashi before he could think twice about it, holding her to his chest.

"We need to get her to Konoha, now."

He had never tried using his Rinnegan to get there; never had the explicit motivation, the need to return. But now… Now, nothing could stop him.

"Can you make it?" Desperation warred with hope in Kakashi's voice and Sasuke had to wonder if he sounded the same.

"I'll get her home." The promise came from numb lips, "I'll get them both home."

Sasuke leaned over and presented his shoulder to Yamato, and within only moments, Sai's body was carefully placed over his frame. He caught Naruto's eyes from across the small expanse, his tanned face unusually blanched, blue eyes darting from one teammate to the next.

"Sasuke." He said, and Sasuke suddenly had the awful feeling of knowing what it was to have the responsibility to save. He had never envied Naruto less than in that moment.

"I won't let them die."

There was movement at his right, Kakashi's hands reaching to brush Sakura's hair from her face and Sasuke watched the brief moment unfold with careful, rueful attention.

"Hurry." Kakashi said, his hands falling away though his grey eyes never left Sakura.

Sasuke clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. His chakra was dangerously low but manageable, and never in his life had he been so thankful that stamina had always been his strong suit. With a centring breath, Sasuke spun his aching Rinnegan to life, thoughts and mind clear with singular, desperate intention.

He didn't have space of mind to question if this was something he could even achieve. There was no room for doubts and Sasuke let his single-mindedness lead – a skill he had sharpened and honed over the years of many wrong-doings.

Konoha was his only thought as he activated his Rinnegan. With a pulse of heady, metallic chakra, and a flash of aching azure eyes, he was gone.

The earth that met his feet when he stumbled out was dense and frostbitten, just the same as the early morning air. But the trees, those trees he could never mistake. Discomfort was an unreachable sensation when relief was so utterly visceral, and Sasuke almost staggered under the weight of such a mix of emotions.

I… I made it.

He lifted his head and shuffled Sakura a little higher against where he awkwardly hugged her body to his chest and shoulder. Konoha green sat in the near horizon, and with a stumbling start, Sasuke ran towards them, two bodies jolting with his every step.

There was a quiet groan to his left and Sasuke spared Sai a sharp glance. "Don't you dare die on Sakura." He warned the unconscious man, mist curling past his cold lips. "If she wakes up and you're not there… I'll bring you back to life personally just so I can kill you again."

He didn't get an answer, but he didn't care. He turned to glance at the crown of Sakura's head and realised with faint terror that even with her face pressed against his neck, he couldn't feel her breathing.

He didn't have time to waste on verifying his horrifying deduction, not when he was too terrified of the answer, not when panic was screaming at him to get help.

"Don't you die, Sakura." His pants threatened to turn hitched as Sasuke raced blindly forward. "You're not allowed to die!"

With a final burst of his reserves, he ran towards the only home he could never seem to lose.

An Uchiha, tasked to save when his life had always been led with the purpose to hurt.

The last Uchiha, carrying the weight of grief as encompassing as the fallen snow.

---

A/N: Thank you for reading and making it this far! I am so grateful for every reader and every comment. I promise I won't ever abandon this fic, it just takes time. And, like the size of my chapters, this is a marathon, not a sprint haha.

I'll say it before you can. Yes, Naruto and Sasuke still have their sealing technique because this is my AU and also it is fiction. This is my one and only defence so I rest my case.

We were absolutely swinging through the POV's this chapter and yes it's because I love a diverse perspective but also because I'm really not good at writing fight sequences, so I have to pad it out with *thoughts and feelings* But if you haven't figured that out yet, I don't know what to tell ya.

As always, much love Team.