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Covenant
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Synopsis: Four years into the Fourth Shinobi War, Orochimaru offers to turn.
He all but requests Sakura by name to be the contact.
It is, quite clearly, a trap—least of all because he's supposed to be dead.
But what is a losing side to do except take the hand that's offered?
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4. The Return
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SHE AWOKE with a start, horrified at the fact she fell asleep.
Her back was sore, there was a nasty kink in her shoulder, and the seal pulsed on her neck uncomfortably. But otherwise, Sakura was alive and well.
As well as one could be in an undisclosed enemy cave with no escape in sight and beholden to a nameless, faceless man's whims. Her very first enemy, Orochimaru, slunk around somewhere in the same base. Alive and somewhat free. Tobi, her current second-worst enemy, allegedly decided to house here for the foreseeable future.
So it was all just peachy.
Plus, the lack of windows gave everything a dreary feel. It also made telling time impossible. Oh, and she had no weapons, no anti-poison, and no idea how to break the genjutsu layering the exit door. Even less of an idea on how to circumvent the covenant she'd fallen into—she would've teleported out hours ago if not for the damned seal.
And she had fallen asleep.
Sakura was thoroughly disgusted with herself as she stood and stretched.
At least she was alone. Either the seal subconsciously lowered her guard or the stress of yesterday tired her out, because she hadn't even heard the Source leave. Though, the more she thought about it—she barely remembered he existed.
It was strange. She had no issue recalling Orochimaru—knew the covenant belonged to someone else. But if she focused too hard on that someone else, he slipped from her mind entirely. She suspected there'd be no memory of him at all if not for the seal on her neck that contained his chakra.
But she set aside that issue for now. Without the pertinent party present, there wasn't anything to do about it. She ran through forms to ease the tension in her body, instead. Clearing her mind and settling her nerves.
A note was scribbled and left for her atop a bound scroll on the desk. Learn this.
So she spent the rest of the day—or night, she had no clue—learning it. The scroll contained a complex fuinjutsu. The more Sakura deciphered it, the less it made sense. Conceptually, it was unworkable. It seemed to not seal anything except—
It took, by her estimation, about an hour before she realized it was a code—and the code sealed itself. A fuinjutsu that locked secrets within its own code.
Amazing, she couldn't help but think. The trickiest part would be relaying any sealed information to another party who hadn't studied the scroll.
Thankfully for Sakura, her handler was the Copy Ninja.
Once the premise was understood, the jutsu was relatively simple. Soon enough she'd completed the assignment and found herself lying on the mat again, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't hear anything on the other side of the door. Couldn't hear anything outside the walls.
This could've been her cell, for all she knew. Locked away, alone, tricked. Behind enemy lines with enough information on the Allies' strategies to bring about their immediate downfall. Left to rot or left for torture. The worst sort of fate for a shinobi.
Death during battle was eternal glory. But to die slowly, tortured until you betrayed your loyalties…
She tried not to let her mind go too far down that road.
Nothing that happened since the sealing suggested she was in danger yet, anyway. Though rather empty, this room was hardly a dungeon and clearly lived in. Food—unpoisoned—had been left beside the fuinjutsu scroll. True to their word, they were successfully hiding her from Tobi. She'd fallen asleep next to one of them, lived through the night, and awoke unharmed.
But most important of all assurances: The Source made a pact. The longer she spent sealed, the more confident she grew that his pact of devotion would keep her safe. For now.
Sakura studied the seal.
It was similar to a juinjutsu, though lacking any malice or subjugation elements. Not similar in the slightest to the feel of Orochimaru's curse mark. Perhaps it was still juinjutsu despite that, however, and she'd only ever experienced the malicious forms of these jutsu. This seal felt more like a heavy persuasion. The chemicals that reinforced compliance with the covenant made the persuasion more powerful.
How did it feel for the Source?
So long as she thought of the Source in relation to the covenant, she could picture his figure and cat mask. His unnaturally low voice. The width of his shoulders. The firewood smell that lingered on his cloak. But if she focused only on him, built him within her mind, delved deeper into her observations to examine his posture and wording—he slipped away.
She analyzed the seal further.
It was unlike the byakugou, which only existed because she regularly fed it chakra. The byakugou was like a lake with no restrictions, growing and shrinking according to her usage. Swelling into an ocean or drying into a puddle. In contrast, the covenant seal was placed with immutable chakra inside it already. It was like a pool. Or smaller: A koi pond that neither drained nor expanded. Forever at the exact size it started.
Once more, she molded her chakra around the concealed chakra within and set her mind to unmasking it. She squeezed, and prodded, and shook it—
A cat-masked man in an Akatsuki robe was suddenly inside the room. The Source. His head shot in her direction, and she couldn't be sure, but from his chest movement it looked like he released a breath.
Sakura made no move to change her relaxed position across the sleeping mat. "Can I leave now?"
He composed himself in a single breath. "What happened?"
"When?"
"Were you…was something going on?"
"No? What?" Her brows raised. "Look at this room. There's nothing to do. The only thing going on is my boredom." He didn't reply, so she added, "I wasn't snooping if that's what you're implying. So can I leave now?"
His mask faced her for a few more seconds before he turned to the desk. A gloved hand picked up the scroll she'd been studying earlier.
"Have you learned this?"
"It's rude to ignore someone's questions, you know." She sighed. "But yes, I learned it."
The scroll and note attached to it turned into small flames in his hands and then were no more.
He's got Fire Release, she mentally noted. That strengthened her suspicions that he was a Konoha nukenin; it also lessened the likelihood he originated from Kiri or Iwa.
While she pondered, he pulled another scroll out and started writing.
Sakura lifted her head to watch in curiosity. From the sleeping mat, she wasn't at an angle to see the tabletop nor close enough to read the print. She tried observing him instead, but he was just as unidentifiable as before. Scowling, she laid her head back down to stare at the ceiling.
"When can I leave?" she tried again.
"Soon."
"How soon?"
He didn't answer.
"What time is it?"
Silence.
She sent him a glare. "How long have I been here?"
The pen paused before resuming whatever it was he felt the need to document. "Longer than a day, less than two. Konoha knows you're safe."
"There is no Konoha." She said it with no feeling. It was simply a fact now.
That made him stop writing entirely. But then the Source was handing her the parchment, and maybe he'd simply finished writing what he needed to.
It was a coded message. Sakura reread it with the understanding gleaned from her earlier studying. The intelligence seeped into her mind. Coordinates. Battle plans. Numbers. Tactics. Madara was planning to attack—
She opened her mouth to say it out loud but no sound came out. She closed it with a slight blush; the intelligence was sealed, of course she couldn't talk about it.
Instead, she said, "Received." And decided to throw in a quiet, "Thank you."
He took the scroll back and burned it as well, movements stiff and awkward in a way that alerted her instantly.
"Do you need a scan?"
The Source turned on his heel and entered the bathroom without reply. A stone slab rose from the ground in the entranceway for privacy.
She couldn't find it in herself to be angry with his silence. The information he'd just provided was good. Really good. So good it was shocking. The kind of good that could turn the tide of the war if it continued.
As the shower turned on, Sakura rolled onto her side, facing the wall. She ran over the code locked in her mind, still reeling from its quality and content. If this intel was accurate, Madara would target a civilian town near Kiri Division's base in six days.
Something stirred in her gut that she tried to suppress. Feeling optimistic in war was a surefire way to find disappointment. The Allies had been losing for a while. If she was honest with herself, they'd probably been losing since the start. Even during this year-and-a-half cooling period, they'd never gone on the offensive. Never had the momentum or confidence to do so. Not when the opponent was Madara.
Just who was this man who had access to this kind of consequential information?
And why was he turning after four years? What did he stand to gain? He was aligned with the side likely to win if nothing changed. It didn't make any sense at all, and that suspicion overrode any good feeling she might've had a second ago.
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Sakura sat in silence with the Source for hours, watching him read scroll after scroll. After a while, she tried her hand at conversation.
She avoided obvious questions, like who was he? And why was he turning? Settling instead on things like, did he ever grow tired of sleeping in a windowless room? And, where was the weapons' rack to match the grinder? Why not put a door on the bathroom instead of using a jutsu every time? Was he always alone in this room? Why didn't he decorate? Did he have any friends still alive? Was there anyone he fought for? Did he ever think about the Gods?
The last one prompted a brief glance in her direction. That was the only success she had. She eventually gave up.
By the time Orochimaru popped in with a teleport tag saying it was safe for her to leave, she had scratched out a whole flowerbed on the stone wall by the sleeping mat. The smile on the Sannin's face was unsettling.
"I'm pleased you came, Sakura Haruno. See you again soon."
She popped into Kakashi's office, into the secluded room he'd prepared for this. Snatching and activating the next tag, she stomached another familiar navel tug—and finally, finally, she was back in her medic tent.
The sky was dark. From the looks of the moon, it was well past midnight.
Aside from the Source indicating hours ago it hadn't been two days, Sakura had no way of knowing how much time the Allies had left to make good on the information coded in her mind. She needed to talk to Kakashi now.
Even in the middle of the night, the base was lively. Those who preferred to drink their worries away—and there were many in war—hosted nightly campfires across the base. One group seemed to have amassed makeshift instruments and were attempting to create some kind of dance circle. A man in the middle convulsed like a fish while those around cheered him on, banging on boxes and plates.
Sakura declined to join when someone at the fire waved her over. Everyone had a way of dealing with war…but that way wasn't for her. Some drank, some slept around, and some obsessed over the sharpness and placement of their weapons.
Her way was to pour herself into work and those around her until there wasn't any room to think of anything else. The war dragged on and on, and sometimes Sakura wondered what would be left of anyone when it ended. Was there healing from this sort of trauma? From endless killing and endlessly watching others be killed?
For Ino and Shikamaru, who lost Choji?
For Shino and Hinata, who lost Kiba?
For Tenten, who lost both her teammates?
...For her and Naruto?
Yes, he joined the enemy. Yes, he hunted the jinchuriki ruthlessly. He killed many Allies during the war, even some she knew. Even some she'd considered friends. But there was always the possibility—the chance he'd be redeemed. Always the hope lingering in the depths of her and Naruto's hearts.
Then, two years ago, the intelligence came in.
He was dead. Dead.
He died, and—
There was no leaving the thought this time. No one was around to talk to, no objective to focus on but getting to Kakashi's tent. In the hushed, late-winter night, alone in a city of tents housing people who lost something more of themselves every day, there was nothing to do but think.
The dead could never find redemption. Sasuke Uchiha died a traitor.
Years from now, if the Allies won, stories would be told about him in Academy classrooms. A warning to students to turn away from revenge. They wouldn't speak of his clan or Konoha's great sin, choosing instead to focus only on the fact of his defection.
They'd detail how he overpowered a Sannin at only 15 and forced his mentor into servitude. How he destroyed Konoha's Council and upper ranks of Root. How he killed his own brother and attempted to kill the Kage. How he and his amassed loyalty joined Obito against the Allies on the eve of that first battle. How he killed his mentor only a year after that.
He'd been reckless on the battlefield. Deadly. Beautiful. He fought like he didn't care if he died, which made him more dangerous than Madara in some aspects.
In the first year of the war, before the jinchuriki were removed from battle, Sakura and Naruto were ordered to never enter a fight if Sasuke was there. Perhaps Tsunade knew Team Seven might try to bring him back where he was unwelcome. More likely, the Hokage worried Sasuke would well and truly kill them for the principle of it.
Sakura followed the order but thought it unnecessary for her. Sasuke aimed for Naruto like everyone on the enemy's side did. Madara still hoped to catch her teammate and take Kurama. Unlike his compatriots, however, Sasuke hunted to kill—not capture. And while Sasuke might kill her as he might kill anyone on the battlefield, she doubted he'd intentionally go after her.
She knew there was no space in Sasuke's heart or mind that she consumed enough for him to care about pursuing her.
...That she had consumed. He was dead, after all.
His death forever cemented his rogue status. She'd cried for days. Cried for a boy who'd tried to kill her and everyone she loved—an unrepentant and twisted boy who'd never come back. Cried because she still loved him despite it all.
Her gut twisted in shame whenever she remembered how useless she'd been for two months after that news.
It was during this time, when Naruto was equally useless, that the Hokage enacted the separation policy on them. Hinata replaced her on his detail team, and Sakura was stationed back in Konoha Division's base. They went from living together for two years straight to communicating through letters when it was safe enough.
Sakura might never forgive Tsunade. The thought came to her every time the separation did.
Relief from her thoughts was found when she made it to Kakashi's tent. She gently roused him from sleep, only a tiny bit guilty for the interruption. After a failed attempt to relay the intelligence orally, she pulled out a scroll and wrote the code jutsu as best as she could remember.
She wanted to tell him, The jutsu is the code; it seals itself, but found the words locked in her throat when she tried.
Bless Kakashi, though, because it took him only ten minutes before he asked, "Is this a code?"
And less than half an hour after that, he felt confident that he understood.
"Now how do we transfer it from you to me?"
"I read a scroll. Let me try this..." Sakura pulled another scroll towards her and began writing. Her fingers scribbled the letters to spell out the words lingering in her mind, but it became evident after a few sentences that…she was writing a recipe for chocolate cake.
Kakashi glanced down at it. "I prefer to separate the whites from the yolk and add them at different times."
"I'm not in the mood, sensei. I've been stuck in a room with—" Hadn't there been someone in the room with her? "With nothing to do for hours. Surrounded by enemies. I'm stressed out and tired. What day is it, by the way?"
"Wednesday. Or, early Thursday morning by now."
She'd been sent to the rendezvous point Tuesday morning. It all felt surreal, like it was happening to someone else. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she closed her eyes with a sigh.
A hand was on her shoulder the next moment, its warmth seeping into her bones. "Are you okay?"
She gave Kakashi a small smile. "I am. I wasn't harmed."
"You can be unharmed and not okay," he pointed out. "Are you sure you're fine?"
Sakura nodded. "The reports were right. Orochimaru returned... Different. His chakra isn't nearly as strong as it used to be, and it lacked any of that oppressive feeling it once had. The meeting was smooth. Ob—" She caught herself, "Tobi arrived at the base near the end of it, and there was no way for me to leave the cave safely after that. They placed me in a bedroom hidden behind genjutsu and I waited until I could leave."
"Who is they?"
"Hmm?"
"Who put you in a bedroom?" he clarified.
"Orochimaru," answered Sakura. "I wasn't able to check the base's layout, but I'm assuming there weren't any exits I could take undetected with Tobi there."
Kakashi's uncovered eye scanned her face. "We received word from Orochimaru late Tuesday to the same effect. Ino wanted to burn the place down, but Tsunade told her you could handle yourself just fine." His hand moved from her shoulder to pat her on the head. "I knew you could as well. And look, here you—can you release that transformation, by the way? It's a bit odd talking to you but looking at…that."
"Oh, yes, sorry." She released it.
"Better! You look quite dashing in that new outfit. But you're always beautiful!" Sakura smacked his arm, blushing nonetheless. He smiled. "Now, about this jutsu. See these last four signs at the end? They read like one long release when they're placed together. But if you separate them, the first two are more like Deliver and the last two are like Set Free. You see?"
Sakura studied the parchment. "A jutsu with two releases?" She'd never heard of something like that.
"Not exactly. It's more like a jutsu that can be recast continuously until released."
"Brilliant," she murmured, rereading it. It was such a shame that only war brought these kinds of jutsu advancements. "Which release should I try, then?"
"Try the first one, then we'll see what happens."
Sakura formed the signs and looked at Kakashi. Felt the knowledge physically lift from her consciousness. His eye widened in the next second. He opened his mouth—
Nothing came out. He closed it again.
"It's impossible to talk about it," she reminded him. "You try the second release."
Kakashi did so, and black ink shot from his mouth when he finished the last sign. Just like the Iwa gatherer a few days ago. It splattered onto the empty portion of the nearest scroll, beneath the cake recipe. They stared at one another, surprised.
"The attack is in six days," said Sakura.
"Five now. It seems we can speak of it once the second release is complete. We'll have to keep that in mind, and we might need to start debriefing with Tsunade present. This kind of information…"
Sakura nodded in agreement. The information was good. Beyond good—if it was true.
"Why that village, though?" It was something that'd been bothering her. "Only refugees live there."
A crease formed between Kakashi's brows. "That's true. We'll have to discuss it with Tsunade. It could be a grasp for land dominance, or the intelligence could be a trap. Orochimaru gave you this?"
"Yes. Even though it doesn't make much sense, I'm inclined to trust it. We made a covenant and I don't think they'd break it so early."
"What?"
She pointed to the base of her neck, where the seal was. Where she assumed it was no longer invisible since she'd released the transformation.
"I made a covenant for the information, and he made a pact of devotion to the agreement. We sealed it. That's why I don't think the information is false."
Kakashi's face was pale in the dark. "You made a covenant with Orochimaru?"
"This could win us the war. So yes, I made a covenant with—" Sakura paused. The chakra in the seal was concealed and unknown. Not Orochimaru's. It was someone who wore a cat mask. Who's fingers were pale and long, shoulders stiff, wrist veiny. She focused on the person—
And he slipped away.
She cocked her head, concentrating on the covenant and letting the masked man sit in the memory's peripheral. "I made it with…" She couldn't make words form. "I made it. It's done. There seem to be no negative effects except the possibility of dependency."
Kakashi's troubled gaze roved her face. Looking underneath the underneath. He reached out and touched the seal, which sent an electric shock into his fingers. His brows drew together.
"...What's the name of this seal?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask. Orochimaru told me it was the typical seal used in these matters." Even to her own ears, she sounded like an idiot.
"Is there any compulsion? Pain?"
"No. I'm free to do what I want. If I follow direct orders, the seal releases hormones. Endorphins and dopamine. If I don't…well, I haven't tested it yet. It doesn't seem harmful, though."
A look passed over his face that Sakura couldn't decipher. "What was the covenant you took?"
"It encompasses some pacts."
"Which pacts?"
The words were already stuck in her throat; she couldn't say. "If you guess, I might be able to answer."
He hesitated. "Commitment?"
"No."
"Faithfulness?"
What? "No…You're slightly off," she pointed out.
"Honesty?"
"No. Close. They asked me to make a pact of honesty, but we settled on—" Voice cutting off, she rolled her eyes with a shrug. "...Well, you're close anyway."
He was giving her another strange look. "Who is they, Sakura?"
"Orochimaru."
"Is the covenant with Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked a second time.
She went to say yes but halted. Again, she felt the unidentifiable chakra in the seal and remembered that it wasn't Orochimaru's.
When she tried to shake her head, it wouldn't move. She tapped the chocolate cake recipe and hoped he would understand what she was trying to say. He stared down at the scroll, reached out to touch the seal, and was shocked like the first time.
"This chakra is expertly masked. In fact, I wouldn't know you were sealed if you hadn't said anything. There's no change in your signature or interference in your pathways," he thought aloud. "You can talk about Orochimaru, so I assume the covenant is with someone else if you can't say their name. Right?" She tapped the recipe, unable to nod. The cogs turned in his gaze. "Then it's likely one or both of the Akatsuki team stationed with him. That, or he's found a way to ditch them long enough to have a meeting and hide you, which seems unlikely."
Well, he was half right. She had been sealed with a man in Akatsuki robes, but only one was there in the meeting. Leave it to Kakashi to solve a riddle without any clues.
"I'm sure you know this already," his voice sounded slightly disapproving, "but making a covenant is against protocol. It's certainly not something typical. It's extremely dangerous for the one who takes it—dangerous for you. You should try to have this removed as soon as possible."
She felt a bit of anger simmer in her belly. "Actually, sensei, I didn't know. I was given a day to learn the basics, and no one told me anything about covenants, seals, or whatever else. I've never been a gatherer, so please don't scold me like that. Getting sealed wasn't even the worst part about it—I was trapped in a cave with Tobi rooms away for hours, with no way to contact anyone." Sakura rubbed the seal. "The mission will kill me before this covenant does. I was in danger the moment Orochimaru offered the agreement, so I don't regret taking this when it was a condition of receiving the information. Good information."
His hand was back on her shoulder, warm and comforting. "I'm only worried about you, I don't mean to scold you for the sake of scolding. I didn't want you on this mission in the first place. You don't know what seal it is, and we don't know the potential side effects. If anything happens to you..."
"It doesn't feel threatening. It doesn't feel very strong at all."
"A seal is still a seal, and to covenant something to another with a seal is no light matter. I'll look into it and see what I can learn. It seems…similar to a seal that was once used in Konoha. Juinjutsu isn't a specialty of mine, but I'll see who I can bring in to help. We'll decide from there what to do about it."
She already knew what she would do about it: Keep it and fulfill her mission.
But for the sake of mollifying him, she agreed with her teacher outwardly. "Alright."
"Tsunade is going to be livid," Kakashi muttered.
It felt like something broke the tide in her with that. "Then don't tell her! She doesn't need to know. I got the information, and that's all that matters."
Her eyes narrowed at him when he only sighed in response.
The seal was a sore point for her—a physical manifestation of being fooled. She understood Kakashi's concerns... She was concerned herself. But this conversation revolving around her momentary stupidity was pointless. For now, they couldn't erase the covenant; in fact, because of the covenant, the Allies knew Madara's next attack. That was the critical detail—not the seal she'd taken as payment.
"I didn't know it wasn't permitted, which isn't my fault. It's not yours or Ino's fault, either. We just didn't have enough notice. I don't want to be reprimanded or taken off the mission over this. I know I can do this well, so trust me—and please don't tell her. You know I rarely ask you for anything..." And that was the truth. The Hokage-to-be preferred leaving the hard-to-make decisions to anyone else, so Sakura tried not to put him in such situations. "But I'm asking you for this, sensei. Please."
He gave her a stern look before rolling up the scroll with the cake recipe and the now non-coded information. "Then go put on something that covers it up so we can report this intelligence to the Hokage. We need to make preparations immediately."
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It was organized chaos. Less so on the organized part.
Tsunade woke the entire base when Sakura and Kakashi reported. She didn't bother getting any more details from her student's trip other than the parchment with the warning:
Tuesday. Sangosho.
Attack from the Northern forest at 21:30. Three generals,
Tobi. Hidan. Unknown.
Two groups will attack the front. One group will flank through the forest.
All groups have 500 Zetsu. An additional 150-350 shinobi in each group.
They are to pull back if Ally troops are near.
Madara will not respond.
Below that were more precise outlines of the enemy's battle plan.
If Sakura had time to think, time to dissect the warning itself now that it was written down and uncoded, she might wonder—who was the unknown general? Why won't Madara respond? What was the reason for suddenly providing the Allies this information to win?
But there was no time to think.
She was packing the essential medical supplies and grinding out herbs to create more soldier pills faster than she could process. A considerable portion of the base was being ordered into combat. The most extensive operation in over a year—and medical wasn't prepared for the sudden deployment.
It wasn't the largest battle the Allies had ever fronted. Not even close. But Konoha Division, like all the divisions, had grown complacent in the war's lull. Since it wasn't necessary when none were happening, medical stopped maintaining provisions for large-scale fights.
On the low end, the Allies were running to face 2,000 enemy troops. On the high end, 2,500. About 2,000 shinobi would deploy from Konoha Division base to meet 3,000 from Kiri Division base near Sangosho. The Allies had a significant numbers advantage.
The problem lay in Madara's generals. Tobi and Hidan were both nearly impossible to kill.
With the help of a Nara defect, Madara had recouped Hidan's body from the Nara Clan Forest early in the war. Shikamaru was placed on administrative leave, for his own sake, for a month when that intelligence came in.
Hidan's stamina and durability were unmatched. The only way to subdue him was to contain him long enough to beat everyone around him, forcing him to retreat or battle an army alone. Fighters like Chojuro or Hanabi were wasted on him. They simply couldn't kill him, and would be so tied up in trying that they became useless to the rest of the battlefield. Thus, gatherers were typically dispatched to deal with him in battle. Gatherers had better-suited tactics for containment; they were used to tracking and holding a target rather than killing them.
Tenten was almost always on the Hidan containment team. Her perfect marksmanship and skill in fuinjutsu meant she could consistently hit Hidan with sealing tags from extreme distances. Although it did little to defeat him, her techniques busied him relentlessly.
It was a dangerous platoon to be in, however. No Allied gatherer could match Hidan in a battle to the death. Tenten nearly died the last time she was placed on containment, during the enemy's last large attack a year and a half ago.
If Lee hadn't taken the blow for her, she would have.
And Tobi…well, he was theoretically killable. The Allies had mortally wounded him a hundred times throughout the four years. Every time, he managed to slip away with kamui—only to frustratingly return wholly healed and healthy in the next fight. Kakashi was the only known shinobi in the world who could counter it. Who could follow Tobi through the portal to stop his retreat.
He did follow once. In the first battle of the war.
But something changed in Kakashi during that brawl—when he learned Tobi was Obito. When he realized that he had to kill his precious teammate.
...And he had killed him, he was sure.
Then Madara broke the Reanimation and collapsed, and Tobi was there teleporting the both of them out, and it was clear Kakashi hadn't ended his old friend as he thought.
Kakashi hadn't spoken for a month when the battle was over. Sakura was never so scared as she was during those days—standing beside her sensei in the medic tent, looking into his empty eyes. Seeing nothing but abyss staring back.
She was certain he would kill himself. She was certain.
So she'd locked chakra suppressors around his wrists. Chained his hands and legs down to the bed and kept him sedated with calmative at night. During the day, she and Naruto rarely left his room—never left him alone. They just knew he would kill himself if they weren't there.
Then, 47 days later, as she wiped his face down one morning—her tears were hitting his cheeks and she wiped those away, too—Kakashi just…reemerged.
Like he hadn't ever left, with a quiet, "Thank you, Sakura."
They never spoke about it again. And from then on, no one ever said Obito's name in his presence.
Kakashi didn't meet Tobi in battle after that—no matter how hard Tobi tried. To her credit, for all her newfound coldness, separation policies, and ruthless conviction, Tsunade never ordered him to.
So Tobi could be incapacitated, but to kill him was nigh impossible. The goal was to land death blows to force him off the battlefield; fighters were always dispatched to handle him.
And the Unknown…
Was he unknown to Orochimaru, or was it information he was unwilling to provide? That single word caused Sakura the most worry. It, more than anything, screamed trap. There was no way to plan for Unknown. No way to build a strategy to counter it.
But Sakura had no time to think about that either.
She was being dispatched as medical commander. One of very few field medics being ordered into the battle. She'd be near the army's rear, maintaining Katsuyu across the battlefield. A transport tag would be placed next to her on the Healing Ground that she'd also maintain, that anyone could use their own tag to teleport to instantaneously.
Shizune and two Konoha assistants would tend to the injuries of those teleported who needed more personal care than Healing Ground could provide. Kiri Division promised to send two additional medics for Sakura to command. Only six dedicated field medics for an army of 5,000.
It was precarious.
But so few battle medics were left to spare across the Allied troops, and ordering them into field medical after such a long hiatus was dangerous. Medics as a whole weren't fighters—and except for those in the top ranks, most hadn't gotten much action in the past year.
The Kage simply couldn't afford to lose more medics, and Sakura's presence allowed fewer medics to risk it. Thus, it wouldn't be risked. She would go and cover the deficit.
Tsunade wasn't deploying; none of the Kage ever did, anymore. Instead, she'd summon a small part of Katsuyu back on base. This way, the Hokage could view the battlefield's status through Sakura's summoning and help funnel chakra into the slug when possible. One portion would be placed on Ino, permitting Tsunade to relay commands from thousands of miles away.
Ino and the other shinobi on the linking squad would position themselves near Sakura in the rear. Linking would continuously channel the mind-link, passing Command's orders to the army. A small, highly-skilled ANBU guard would be placed around both their squads.
It was a system organized and perfected by Konoha through the war.
Excitement and apprehension churned in Sakura's veins.
The army moved out in two hours. It was a 70-hour trip to Sangosho, a tiny refugee village on the eastern coast of Water Country. They had less than five days to make the three-day trip, set up their camp, and prepare for battle. And they'd have to move the 2,000-strong army as stealthily as possible to not alert Madara.
Almost a year and a half had passed since Sakura saw real combat. Since any of them had. A real battle was nothing like the minor skirmishes or ambushes the Allies had recently faced.
Real battle was chaos. Hell unleashed upon the earth. It was one thing to lose one or two comrades on a surveillance mission. It was an entirely different matter to be trapped on a field of thousands of corpses—to watch as an entire generation was razed. To be soaked in blood that wasn't your own, and step on bodies that were nothing but mushed, ground meat, and bathe in the scent of a mass, rotting graveyard.
There was no way to prepare for it.
Some said with experience, it got easier. Whenever they did, Sakura would wonder just how much more experience she needed for that to start happening.
"I need help prepping these soldier pills!" she yelled.
Four medics ran in and started pounding out the herbs next to her, forming a short assembly line.
War does strange things to people, thought Sakura. Three and a half years ago, she would've been a nervous wreck in this moment. She'd be fighting tears, thinking about who might die and how many she wouldn't be able to save.
Focused and steely, she barked at the person beside her to, "Move faster!"
Herbs piled up next to him, his hands shaking too hard to pack them into pill casings. He wasn't even one of the shinobi ordered into combat. Turning to snap some more at him, she paused before the words bit out.
He was just a child. No older than 13... Probably only recently recruited.
She softened her tone a fraction. "It's easier if you don't think. Just move."
"Yes, Haruno-sama," he whispered.
And it seemed to help a bit. The boy's work sped up.
Now in this moment, with four years of hard-earned and unasked-for experience, she thought about Lee.
Lee, who Tenten had carried in her arms for five miles because she had no transportation tags to medical left. Lee, who was still alive when he was placed in front of Sakura. Lee, who Tenten had screamed and screamed and screamed at her to save. Who wasn't savable. Who knew he would die and had taken his own life in front of them, swiftly enough that neither kunoichi could stop him. So Sakura wouldn't have to do it. So she and Tenten wouldn't have to watch it happen slowly.
So Tenten wouldn't have to bear watching her teammate fade away.
...But Tenten still had to bear it, just in a different shape. She'd begged Sakura to save him for hours after that, tears running down her face, right there on her knees in the middle of field medical. Refusing to let go of Lee's corpse until she was nearly catatonic.
War does strange things to people, Sakura thought again. Because she didn't feel fear or anxiety when thinking about battle anymore. She felt ready and willing, and she knew that Hidan deserved to pay.
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