Here is the next chapter! Enjoy.

Itachi had just finished putting the genjutsu into place and left 'Gato' back in his room. He was surprised that his brother's teammate had found him, and was more surprised about the skill she showed in genjutsu. The pink haired teammate must of had decent chakra control or talent, potentially a combination of both. It made him more comfortable with having Sasuke be a shinobi, but it didn't solve his greatest concern.

His brother wasn't strong enough yet.

Sasuke needed to be strong, strong enough to kill him. Only then he would be able to rest, because it's clear he would never forgive himself for what he did in the past. Dying for Sasuke would be his final act of justice in this world. Still, Sasuke had to be strong enough and survive until then, anything could happen in the field. At least his teammates would look after him, he would be fine with leaving now to meet back up with Kisame.

Itachi felt a sting travel down his spine.

No, he could not leave.

This was too important. Itachi had to make sure there was still a 'Gato' so Sasuke could activate his sharingan, how could he forget? The person he chose was already a dead man, so there would be no issue having him die again with a different name. There was a chance though that the pinked haired teammate would come back. What was her name... Haruno Sakura? He should have knocked her out.

Why didn't he?

Another sting.

Ah, right. Tazuna had to be guarded, and Sakura had to be the one to do it so Sasuke could train. Tazuna couldn't die before Sasuke was ready. Once Sasuke's chakra control was better he would be a closer match to the ice user and would be able to activate his sharingan. Unfortunately, Itachi had to get back before he could see it through to the end.

He should add a couple more layers to the genjutsu, then 'Gato' would no longer be an issue. It would take someone with nearly perfect chakra control to break it, and Senju Tsunade wasn't around so there should be no issues, but Itachi was nothing but thorough. He would move 'Gato' to a new location and supervise the 'visit' before heading back to the Akatsuki.

Kisame might give him a hard time, but if it was for Sasuke he would do anything. Itachi didn't care how much it destroyed his soul in the process.

Sasuke would survive.

.

When they arrived back at the house the first thing Sakura saw was Kakashi-sensei sitting out on the front steps. She tried to get a read on his body language but she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Better to be safe than sorry though.

"Pakkun, does he look mad to you?"

"He flipped the page, you're fine. It seems we made it back in time."

Sakura felt a weight lift off her shoulders, she was really worried about his reaction when the trio returned later than she expected.

"Sakura, leave the talking to me, you just go inside and eat."

"Ok, Pakkun... thank you."

"If you really want to thank me, I like a good rub under the chin and along the spine. So remember that the next time you see me ok pup?"

Sakura answered by giving him a nice scratch under the chin.

"Ah, you're definitely my favorite of his students."

She giggled before approaching her Sensei with Inari. The boy in question hid his face into her side.

"We're back Sensei."

Kakashi-sensei trailed his eyes over the two before landing back on his book.

"Good, we'll talk later Sakura-chan. For now just bring Inari inside and have some dinner."

"Yes Sensei."

Sakura stepped around her Sensei into the house and brought Inari to the dining room. Tsunami cried in relief when she saw her son safe and Inari, who had an emotional evening, took solace in his mother's arms.

"Don't you ever run away again."

"I won't I promise."

Tsunami looked up at Sakura.

"Sakura-chan thank you so much, for everything you have done for our town and family."

Sakura gave a small nod, doing her best to prevent the guilt from showing on her face. It was her idea for Inari to run away, and though she has been trying to help it wasn't with the purest of intentions. Still, Sakura wanted the truth, wanted them to know the truth. If she had to lie for them to be free from this incident then that was just what she would do.

"Don't worry about it Tsunami-san, I'm just doing my job."

"Still, thank you."

Sakura went to the kitchen and made herself a bowl and sat down. She looked around and didn't see Naruto or Uchiha around, were they training again? It would be great if they were, Sakura could use some alone time to unwind and sort out her thoughts.

Because she failed.

Again.

She couldn't be too hard on herself, considering the fact she had no idea there were any Uchiha alive besides her teammate and Pakkun himself seemed surprised to see Itachi. Still, the failure burned. She, Haruno Sakura, was better than that, knew she was better than that, so why did it seem like every plan she made blew up in her face? It's like the universe was against her.

What should she do now?

Go after Kaiza? Itachi may have let her go the last time, but if she went again there was no telling what he would do. His flare though... what was he trying to do with his eyes, and why did he stop? Since he said it himself that he didn't want to harm her or Inari, was it some sort of knockout jutsu? If so, why was he stopped by the Burning from knocking her out?

Why did it feel like there was a specific role her team had to play, that she had to play?

Sakura put her spoon down and leaned back in her chair.

Everything seemed to revolve around the Tazuna - Gato conflict, so maybe the best course of action would be to stay next to the bridge builder and continue to guard him until Zabuza recovered. After Zabuza was defeated then she could rescue Kaiza with her team, but first she better talk with Kakashi-sensei about what happened and see if he had a plan on how to deal with Itachi.

Sakura walked back outside and saw Sensei still on the steps reading. He was alone so Pakkun must of dismissed himself after he gave his report. She sat next to him.

"Sensei."

"Hmm?" He glanced at her.

"About what Pakkun said, what are our next steps?"

"We will keep doing what we did before. You guarding Tazuna and the boys training while I recover."

That's it?

"What about Itachi? Are you just going to let him go after we fought with him?" Her irritation leaking into her voice.

"Itachi? You fought Itachi?"

Sensei closed his book grabbed hold of her shoulder and shunshin the both of them further into the woods. Sakura staggered when it was over, the high speed motion too much for her untrained stomach to handle.

"Yes, we ran into Uchiha Itachi, didn't Pakkun tell you?"

Unless... he already forgot?

"I... what did he tell me?" Kakashi-sensei held his head as he tried to remember, and after a moment he straightened and snapped his fingers.

"Right, Inari got stuck out to sea so it took you a bit to get him back."

What?

There's no way that's what Pakkun said, so was this like Yamanaka's case?

An implanted memory, and she was experiencing it first hand.

It wasn't like the previous incidents, he didn't just forget.

It was overwritten.

Did the same thing happen to Itachi too?

Something wanted Sensei to forget about Itachi, and it clearly wasn't Itachi's doing since he also showed signs of having the Burning and memory alteration. So maybe...

Itachi wasn't supposed to be here, but he was here because 'Gato' wasn't.

Otherwise it wouldn't make sense for him to kidnap Kaiza to be Gato.

But why did Gato even matter?

Sakura was so close to the truth, but she still felt one step away.

She sighed and looked at her Sensei with a tired expression. How was she supposed to get help planning now?

And what about Kaiza?

The weight of the truth felt heavier than ever.

"Kakashi-sensei do you trust me?"

"Maa Sakura-chan, what's this all about?"

"I just need a yes or no answer. When a certain time comes and I ask you to believe me, will you?"

Sakura studied her Sensei, he tried to stand in his normal hunched posture, but his shoulders were too stiff to seem effortless and the binding of his book strained under his touch.

"I don't know."

His words felt like a stab in the back, but Sakura was a realist. She could understand how a jonin in his position would feel being asked that by a genin. That's what she gets for trying to rely on an adult, trust an adult, she was better off sticking with Yamanaka and Pakkun. What was she thinking? Optimism didn't suit her in the slightest, she would ha–

"I don't know, but I will try to believe you Sakura-chan. You have my word." His voice soft.

Oh.

"Ok."

She felt warm.

The pair turned and walked back to the house and a heavy hand landed on her head. She peered up under her eyelashes and saw his face shoved into his book.

The impossible almost happened but in the end, Kakashi-sensei was still her favorite.

.

Today was the day.

Zabuza should have recovered and another confrontation was imminent.

All the training Sakura did this past week has led up to this moment. She had improved the time it took to heal wounds, as well as chakra wasted, and was able to get that new genjutsu seal less.

She was ready.

As soon as the rest of the house woke they would be heading to the bridge. Sakura sat down at the dining room table, taking the time to sharpen her weapons before what she guessed to be the final battle. Zabuza and his accomplice could strike at any time, and it irked her that her teammates were still sleeping and not up preparing like herself.

She sighed.

In the end she would have to take care of everything like usual. If only she had teammates that were competent like herself, then she wouldn't have to worry so much.

'Oh you're complaining, what did the boys do now?'

'Inner! You're back!'

'I am! What happened while I was gone?'

She snorted.

'What didn't happen? Apparently Uchiha has a brother who is a missing-nin that I ran into when trying to rescue Inari's father. Kaiza was kidnapped to play the role of Gato.'

'You ran into Uchiha Itachi? That's not... anyways Kaiza forced to play the role of Gato... that does make sense if the original had already been executed. Now that I think about it, it all makes sense.'

There was something about Inner's words that bothered Sakura.

'Inner... I've never said Uchiha's brother's name, so how did you know?'

'Ah... well it's simple. You've heard his name in passing before from Uchiha as a child, and I just connected the dots.'

Sakura wasn't convinced, but this was Inner so anything was possible.

'Right... oh! Kakashi-sensei's ninken remembered my brother! He remembered Ren!'

'Oh Sakura, I'm so happy for you! Truly.'

'Yeah, me too.'

Sakura heard movement on the stairs and it wasn't long for both Tsunami and Uchiha to walk into view. Sakura said her greetings and watched Tsunami walk into the kitchen while Uchiha sat next to her.

"Morning Uchiha."

"...morning."

"Is Naruto up yet?"

Uchiha clicked his teeth.

"The Dobe? No, that fool is still sleeping and wouldn't budge. Kakashi said to leave him be and we would head to the bridge without him."

Sakura frowned, she would rather have the whole team together to confront Zabuza, but orders were orders and Sakura would follow them.

"Ok, are your weapons sharpened? I'm almost done with mine if you need a hand."

He looked at her sharpened weapons scattered about the table before looking away.

"Thanks."

Sakura could barely hear him.

She smiled and held out her hand. Uchiha placed some shuriken into it as he took out the rest of his weapons to do maintenance.

"Your welcome."

Maybe she was too hard on her team, they weren't that bad. It's not like they were a Haruno, so obviously they needed some extra help.
If she whipped them into shape there was a small chance they could be useful.

Her eyes hardened at what they would be up against.

But first, they would have to survive.

.

She was starting to hate being the responsible one.

Sakura stood on the bridge guarding a terrified Tazuna as her teammates fought the missing-nin. She knew her skill set would be better suited for guarding, and with the Burning Sakura knew she would be better off acting defensively, but the way her teammates were fighting that kid made her want to rip her hair out and do it herself.

But she had her orders, Sakura was told to guard Tazuna, so that was where she must stay.

Still, why did Naruto announce his presence to the world and go in without a plan?

Sakura didn't ask for much in life, really.

So why couldn't she at least get teammates that used their heads instead of trying to do the same thing over and over again despite it not working?

'Sakura, focus.'

'Inner, I know.'

'Then act like it, stop getting lost in your head.'

'Their incompetence is distracting.'

'Then watch Kakashi, just keep your head in the fight.'

Sakura looked over at her Sensei, but couldn't see anything due to the quick speeds of both jonin. She double checked her explosive tags she laid out on the bridge in various locations earlier in the week. Worst case scenario she would blow it. As long as Tazuna was alive they could rebuild.

"I didn't ask for your help!"

Sakura whipped her head over to Naruto's scream, and saw Uchiha collapse. She clenched her teeth and looked back at Tazuna. Her idiots needed her, she couldn't stay here.

Sakura grabbed the old man by the arm and backed him into a corner. She took out some more explosive kunai and threw them into the bridge in a semi-circle around him.

"Stay here, if you scream I'll blow them," Sakura pointed to the kunai, and did a few more hand signs to alter the genjutsu she placed on the bridge earlier.

"Don't move from this spot, you will look like crates to anyone on the bridge. I will grab my teammate and come back, so don't do anything stupid."

Tazuna nodded shakily.

Sakura ran towards her fallen teammate when she was blown back by a huge gust of wind. She looked towards the source and orange chakra permeating the air.

Kuruma's chakra?

Naruto wouldn't loose control would he? Sakura shook her head, her job was to get to her teammate and retreat, she would just have to trust that that Kurama needed her alive and Naruto had it under control.

Sakura kept Naruto and the missing-nin in sight as she knelt down by Uchiha. Senbon littered his frame and she couldn't feel a pulse. Was he dead? Sakura's mind spiraled. She didn't give him permission to die, why did she listen to Sensei and stayed put earlier? The idiots needed her and she didn't go. They were hopeless without her.

'Look closer Sakura, not all is what it seems.'

Heading Inner's words she coated her hands with green chakra and checked his system. So this was how Zabuza faked his death, it was faint but there was signs of life. Sakura lifted Uchiha into her arms and retreated.

Sakura spared another glance at Naruto. Kurama better keep him alive or she would never take out the 'circle'.

Once back by Tazuna, Sakura laid down Uchiha and started pulling out the senbons one at a time, taking the time to heal each incision after removal. She was glad she practiced on herself, now wasn't the time to experiment. It was slow going and painful work, but with each wound healed Sakura could breathe just a little bit easier, though she was starting to get worried about her chakra levels. She hopped this fight would end soon.

Sakura finished up just as the younger missing-nin jumped in front of Kakashi-sensei's lighting jutsu. She felt regret to see him die, he did purposefully keep Uchiha alive after all, but death was part of the shinobi lifestyle.

She stroked the hitai-ate on her chest.

Sakura understood that very well.

"You disappoint me Zabuza." A voice echoed out from the other side of the bridge.

She knew that voice.

Sakura turned her head and saw him, the figure standing in front of a mass of people.

Kaiza.

Sakura scanned the rest of the group and recognized some of the faces from the trips she made into town with Tazuna, what were they doing here?

"Gato." Zabuza spat out.

The pair conversed while Sakura thought. She had to be careful here, Kaiza could be killed if she made the wrong move.

Why was he here? Was he supposed to be here?

And those words... he said those words when she first found him. Sakura looked back at Tazuna, the man didn't seem to recognize his son-in-law.

It must be the genjutsu, now was the time to break it.

Sakura walked up to Tazuna and placed a hand on his shoulder, inserting her chakra into his system and giving it a quick flare.

Tazuna rocked side to side before looking at her.

"Sakura, I feel different... Kaiza? Why is he... where did Gato go?"

"There was no 'Gato' Tazuna, you were under a genjutsu. I was right when I said he was imprisoned and most likely executed. Kaiza is currently under one as well."

"I don't understand."

"I will explain later, but for now I have a job to do, stay put." She commanded.

Sakura gave one last glance at Uchiha, making sure he was fine before heading over to Kakashi-sensei, who looked like he was about to team up with Zabuza.

"Kakashi-sensei, stop! That's not Gato!"

"Oi pink brat, don't butt into real shinobi business, I know the face of the guy who hired me."

Sakura gave him a glare as she looked at her Sensei.

"Please Kakashi-sensei."

"She's right Kakashi." Pakkun chimed in, trotting over to stand by her side.

Sakura had to stop the corners of her mouth from lifting, while she was happy to see Pakkun she had to stay serious.

He looked at her, and Sakura could feel the weight of his stare, but she didn't shy away.

He slouched his shoulders.

"Alright, I believe you."

Wave is drawing to a close! I will post the last 3 chapters tomorrow and then we will be caught up to AO3. Thanks for reading!