A/N: This chapter is much shorter, but it's a lot. I decided to keep it the self contained scene since it's such a big one. Um...trigger warning I guess for choking and violence. If you're even a little familiar with this scene you probably know that already, but just in case.

"Inner Sakura..."

"Sakura's thoughts..."

Memories...

"Dialogue..."

Standard disclaimers apply.

He turned to the sound of her voice. His blurry eyes couldn't make out more than a beige and pink blur. But he didn't need to see her to know. He'd been able to recognize her voice since the bell test that made them team 7.

"…Sakura?" He murmured quietly. But it couldn't be. She was dead. He'd buried her body, which meant she was either a ghost, or a fake. He figured if it was a ghost, he'd be able to see her clearly, regardless of the condition of his eyes. Still, he was hesitant to name her a fake just yet.

Sakura felt a painful pang looking at him. He wasn't the same Sasuke she'd been on a team with, or even the one they encountered at Orochimaru's. He was so much…darker. A sliver of doubt raced through her. Maybe the others were right. Maybe he was gone.

"I still have to try. I can make him see the light—his revenge is done. He just doesn't have direction right now except for whatever that Akatsuki said to him, but he has no connection to the Akatsuki. He does have connection to me though. I can bring him around. I can. I have to."

Sakura leapt across the gap and landed, not as graceful as her movements would typically be, from her exhaustion, before walking bravely to stand in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke had watched the blur that was supposedly Sakura leap to his side, growing clearer with the growing proximity. She was still a little blurry, but he could make out her features, her body taking shape from the mass of beige that he could now tell was courtesy of her travel cloak. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. This Sakura didn't move as gracefully as the Sakura he knew—she was still graceful, but it was nothing on his Sakura. A poor imitation.

Sakura looked down at the bleeding woman at their feet and her medical instincts screamed at her to care for the patient. "I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, I came here to talk with you, but would you mind if I take care of her first?"

She was good. That was a very Sakura request.

"I was about to kill her. Would you like to do the honors instead?" He tested. Sakura would never take that offer.

"No I wouldn't. I'd like to heal her…is she your enemy?"

"Karin was an ally. But she's useless now." He answered coldly. This Sakura was good, answering like that. Was she real? But she couldn't be. But why was she there?

"Not if I heal her." Sakura countered.

"You said you wanted to talk. Talk now. Or kill her and then we can talk. Those are your two options."

Sakura stared at him wide eyed, before looking back down at the woman. If she waited too long, the woman would die, and if she killed her, the woman would die. Sasuke had trapped her. There was no way to proceed without allowing her to die. But she was innocent.

"Sasuke-kun…are you really gone?"

"Well?" Sasuke demanded.

"If I pretend like I'm going to kill her, maybe I can make it look like I have while healing her…if I knock her out or…"

Sakura slowly knelt next to the woman, her stomach churning. It shouldn't have been this hard to get him to talk with her. He should have readily agreed…He was as gone as everyone had said.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Sakura was about to kill Karin. She was a fake. His Sakura would never have done that. She'd have argued with him. Told him firmly that she'd be happy to talk with him while healing her, or after healing her, or try to logic out the benefits of allowing her to heal Karin. She would have never silently agreed to the two options he laid out. As she knelt, the Konoha headband on her head came into sharp focus, and the spike of anger was almost on par with when he faced Danzo. He should have realized. Only Konoha would have been so cruel, to send a fake Sakura to lower his guard so she could deal the finishing blow and wipe out the Uchiha they so hated and feared once and for all. Or try to lure him back so they could imprison him and take his eyes the way Danzo had stolen and implanted the eyes of his clan, desecrating their corpses. They all deserved to die. Every last one of them, who could permit her murder and then callously use her face to tarnish everything about her.

He wasn't even consciously aware of his chidori flaring to life or his arm pulling back to deliver the killing blow.

Somewhere in the back of his heart, a voice, much like his genin self, was screaming. Screaming that he might be wrong. That this could be her. His Sakura. That he had seen her grace less than perfect in the forest of death after she was exhausted and injured from her first chakra reaction. That she might not be kneeling to kill Karin, but to just go ahead and heal her, because Sakura never did put up with bullshit from Naruto or him. But there was so much muddy hatred that it distorted the voice, covering the words so that all Sasuke could hear of it was a faint sound, and all that faint sound translated to was him biting his lip hard.

"Don't…Sasuke…" Karin mumbled, but her words meant nothing to him. There were only two women whose words ever mattered to him. His mother, and Sakura. And they were both gone. Murdered by manipulative and cruel Konoha.

That section of bridge exploded in a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, Sasuke saw neither the corpses of the fake Sakura, nor Karin.

Sakura set Karin down further away on the bridge, her hands glowing green with healing chakra from the moment she first scooped her up.

"You're going to be alright. I'm so sorry. Normally I'd stay so you were fully healed, but there's…there's something I have to d-do first." Sakura informed Karin, her voice soothing and brokenly soft, a smile on her face despite the tears that were beginning to slip from the corners of her eyes.

Karin recognized that chakra. She felt it before when Sasuke was unconscious after facing that explosive Akatsuki, Deidara. So it was this girl. And she was a healer…fitting. Everything about her was soothing, just like her cooling, refreshing chakra. It was obvious she was in love with Sasuke, she must have healed him back then—Karin had thought he'd recovered a bit too quickly. But this wasn't the Sasuke this girl, Sakura, used to know. The powerful storm of chakra that once felt like a force of nature—neither good nor evil, just immensely strong, with a warmth and stability to it—had now grown malevolent and chaotic. Still like a raging thunder storm, but now the clouds had a muddy dark quality to them, a fog of darkness woven into the storm. The aspect that had once been warm and stable, now was burning cold and deadly.

Sakura straightened, turning to face a murderous Sasuke, and walked calmly towards him. He was looking at her like he didn't even see her. "Enough of this, Sasuke-kun. Come back home. Itachi's gone now. So's Orochimaru. It's safe for you to come back. You don't need to stay away from us anymore."

Sakura watched as Sasuke's face somehow darkened past murderous. "Like I'd ever go anywhere with you!" Sasuke spat. How dare Konoha be so cruel, to wear her face and voice to say those disgusting lies, as if they were innocent. As if they didn't want the whole of the Uchiha clan wiped out.

Sakura felt her heart shatter.

"No…I'm too late…he really is…he's gone…"

Sasuke's chidori chirped to life, and he darted towards her in blind rage. Sakura again felt the shattered pieces break even further. Sasuke had never openly attacked her before. The one fight they'd had, Sasuke remained on the defensive the whole time.

"I guess…I've got no choice…how did he sink this far?"

Sakura charged to meet him, making sure there was enough distance so Karin wouldn't get pulled into the battle. At the last minute Sakura pivoted around so she was behind him and aimed a kick at his back. Sasuke knocked the kick away his reflexes fast as ever, and Sakura spun her leg still extended as she dropped, attempting to sweep his legs out from under him. Sasuke jumped, dodging her leg, and brought his chidori down towards her head. She quickly flipped back putting some distance between herself and him, as the stone she'd previously been standing on shattered. Sakura stumbled a little on the landing, her foot having slipped on a loose stone from the earlier beating the bridge took.

"Damnit…I'm usually more aware than this! If Tsunade-sama saw that, I'd have two days worth of evasion training!" But her mind wasn't processing the environment as well as it usually did.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed further. The real Sakura would never have stumbled from something as natural to her as a back hand spring. This fake was good to at least try to copy Sakura's dance-like fighting style, but they couldn't pull it off like Sakura did. No one would ever truly be able to imitate Sakura.

Sakura kicked the stone at Sasuke who didn't even blink, sending a wave of fire at her. Sakura ran off the side of the bridge and ran upside down under it, to roughly where Sasuke was standing.

"I can't prolong this…the longer this goes on, the more likely I'll lose. I just…I just need to do it, shannaro!"

His fire ball cleared, revealing a lack of fake Sakura. He barely had time to react when the stone beneath him shattered, a leg coming up at him. Sasuke had leapt up just barely missing the kick, and grabbed Sakura's leg, pulling her up towards him, as he drew his sword.

Sakura reached up and grabbed his sword arm, preventing him from swinging the blade. Sakura met Sasuke's eyes, but immediately fixed her gaze on his shoulder when his Sharingan flared to life. She grabbed one of her poison laced kunai and thrust wildly forward, forcing Sasuke to hold her further away before abandoning the idea of holding on to her all together, and instead threw her down away from the bridge entirely.

Sakura righted herself in midair, and landed on the cold river beneath the bridge. Sasuke landed on the water a distance in front of her.

That imposter wearing her tear-flooded eyes was making his blood boil. "You aren't her…" he growled quietly. Too quietly for her to hear over the racing water beneath them.

"S-Sasuke-kun…" Sakura murmured, her throat tight, tears leaking freely from her eyes. "What did that Akatsuki say to you to make you hate me so much?!" She called desperately.

Sasuke gave an insane bark of a laugh. "Madara didn't need to say anything to make me hate you…Konoha did that all on it's own!"

Sakura's brows furrowed. "…Konoha did? What are you—"

"Don't play dumb!" Sasuke spat viciously. "That was one thing she never was!"

"…What?"

"Sasuke-ku—"

"Shut up!" Sasuke roared, because if there was one thing the copy had nailed, it was the way she said his name. It was just as soft, calming, and gentle as when his Sakura said it. And it was absolutely, maddeningly, heart shatteringly cruel. He couldn't quiet see her clearly, but her voice rang out loud and clear, and this fake, while they may have failed at the way Sakura moved and acted, they had gotten her voice perfect. It kept bringing blurry and vague memories to the surface of the mud he existed in.

…You shouldn't leave things like this untreated for so long or they'll get infected, Sasuke-kun.

…You got hit really hard earlier…you coughed up blood…I wanted to check on you then…

…You need to relax. It's just running…

…Sasuke-kun…

…Sasuke-kun…I'm right here…Just hang on…

Small snippets of conversation they'd had floated to the forefront of his mind. But none more so then her bell-like laugh, and the sound of his name.

And it made him want to crush this fake's fucking wind pipe. How dare they use her voice to spit their vicious lies.

Sasuke's chidori ignited again, sprinting at her at break neck speed.

Sakura's mind was still reeling from what Sasuke had said. Something wasn't adding up.

"What does he mean 'she'…does he mean…me? But why…he used past tense…It can't be Karin, she's still alive and he was ready to kill her…the only two females Sasuke-kun's ever been close to was his mom, and me. And I'm the only one that makes sense in this context, so why'd he use past tense?!—Oh shit!"

Just like with the cloud ninja, it seemed her mind was processing slower, unable to be in the moment and think at the same time…and this time around, that mistake was about to get her killed.

A beige cloak suddenly filled her vision as Kakashi appeared in front of her, grabbing Sasuke's chidori hand and pulling it off course.

"Sasuke! You need to listen to me! She's—"

Sasuke's rage burned as hot and unquenchable as the Amaterasu. Because where had he been when Konoha killed her! How could he still serve them after that?! What was all that crap about those who abandon their friends?! So what was he! He'd let them kill her and still stood on their side, trying to stop him! Hadn't he promised them he'd protect them?! Hadn't he promised her mother he'd look out for her?! So where the hell was he when she died?!

Sasuke kicked wildly, which Kakashi easily dodged, leveling his own kick and sending Sasuke flying a few meters back.

"Sakura…you were aiming to kill Sasuke all by yourself, weren't you?" Kakashi asked, not turning to face her.

"No."

He jolted. What did she mean no? Why was she doing all this?

"Not unless I had too. I thought I could talk to him…convince him to come home."

Damn. This was his fault. He should have told her about Itachi in that village earlier. Then she wouldn't have attempted a conversation like this with him.

"There's no need for you to bear such a heavy burden…this is my fault after all. As your teacher and team leader, I should never have let this happen in the first place. And it was irresponsible of me to offer you a placation back then, without doing absolutely everything in my power to make sure those words were true."

"Drop the act!" Sasuke spat.

"What act?!" Sakura asked desperately.

But Sasuke wasn't listening, unleashing a vicious assault on Kakashi, who was now too focused on dodging for his life to answer her.

Sakura hesitated for a moment, confused and heart broken, unsure of what she should now do. Her mind was working too slowly, she needed to give herself a moment to think.

"…Patient…that's what I do. I'm a medic, and I have a patient…that first…Sasuke-kun after…"

She'd been living in her medical persona for the past two weeks, and it had become a crutch for hyper focusing her brain. Sakura jumped back to where she'd left Karin and knelt next to her. Tears dripping steadily from her eyes, as her mind reeled to fit things together. She opened Karin's shirt and paused for a nano-second taken aback at the bite marks that riddled the woman's body. But then the nano-second passed and Sakura was healing her.

After a few seconds, Karin's eyes cracked open, and the red haired woman immediately wished they hadn't. She didn't want to see Sakura's shattered expression, or her heart broken tears. Sakura was supposed to be her enemy. She didn't want to know how she was feeling. So she wished she'd never opened her eyes to see Sakura crying over her while healing her with such a hurt expression.

"Y-You…"

"Shhh…it's okay, don't talk right now, I need to fully stabilize you."

Karin could hear it, how hard Sakura was fighting to be a good comforting medic, even in this situation. Her chakra was as pleasant to be in direct contact with as it was to sense at a distance.

Sakura felt a huge, dark amassment of chakra, and turned to look over her shoulder, at a skeletal beast made fully of chakra, her eyes widening. She couldn't make out what Sasuke was saying clearly, but she could hear the cadence of it, saturated with hatred and insanity.

"He's not the boy you remember…" Karin murmured, a tear sliding down her own face, both for her own pain, but also for Sakura's, because a girl with chakra this pleasant had to be painfully good. And painfully good people didn't deserve pain like what she was experiencing.

Sakura's head whipped back to her, and Karin expected the girl to tell her to be quiet again, but instead, Sakura studied her through heart broken eyes.

"When did he change?"

"…After…the Akatsuki spoke with him…even then, when we were attacking the…eight tails, he was still…him…he still cared about us…but he was darkening…and after that…when the Akatsuki found us again…that's when he really…started becoming…unrecognizable…"

"Do you know what he talked with Sasuke-kun about?"

"N-No…we weren't there…the first time…when he started getting c-colder."

"And Sasuke-kun didn't tell you?"

"No…but he suddenly…became very…sensitive a-about Itachi…and hated Konoha…"

"He never cared about Konoha before?" Sakura clarified, her voice having leveled out in the face of obtaining new puzzle pieces.

"No…not particularly…" Karin wheezed.

Sakura's sad eyes softened. "Thank you…for telling me. I'm sorry for making you talk. Hush now, and rest. I'll take care of you."

"…you shouldn't be so kind to an enemy…" Karin murmured before letting her eyes drift shut, feeling the tears continuing to slide down her face as she slipped into unconsciousness.

"So the Akatsuki told something to Sasuke-kun that made him sensitive about Itachi, and hate Konoha…"

Well, Danzo-sama and the foundation are top-secret entities. We've done a lot of clandestine dirty work to keep this village safe.

"Clandestine dirty work…like maybe killing off an entire clan…" Sakura closed her eyes, releasing a deep breath as she finally put the pieces together. "That's why he wasn't in the Root bingo book…it was a fucking mission…but…he didn't complete it, or was it that he struck a deal…After Itachi left, no one attempted anything on Sasuke-kun…so probably a deal. But if Danzo wanted the Uchiha taken out…that might explain why he almost immediately put a target on Sasuke-kun's back…so it was a mission. Itachi cut some sort of deal to spare Sasuke-kun and fled…why torture him though…Sasuke-kun's now sensitive about Itachi which means whatever was going on in Itachi's head, it somehow ultimately had to be for Sasuke-kun's benefit…or at least, Sasuke-kun was made to think it was…" Sakura bit at her lip, hard enough to drawl blood. "Itachi was in the normal ANBU bingo book. And he clammed up when he saw the room where he killed his parents, and would get touchy about Shisui…Ok. So if Itachi felt guilty enough…maybe he wanted to die by Sasuke-kun's hand for…justice? And if Sasuke-kun did kill Itachi, a missing nin in the ANBU bingo books, he'd be a hero in the village…So…it was his way of setting Sasuke-kun up for success? Or ensure his safety?…after all, Danzo wanted the Uchiha dead for some reason, and it's harder to kill a hero of the village…"

Sakura's breath froze in her lungs, as she slowly pulled her hands from Karin. In fitting the pieces together, Sakura had skipped right over the emotional crux of this, and it was only just hitting her now. Danzo in the name of the Root, which acted in the name of Konoha, had ordered Itachi to kill their entire clan. Konoha had ordered the massacre of the Uchiha clan.

Sakura's hands flew to her mouth, suddenly feeling ill.

"…I need to talk to him! He must be…no wonder he didn't…I need to talk to him!"

Sakura bolted off, running along the bridge, checking on the status of the battle, very relieved that whatever the skeletal chakra beast was had vanished over the course of her healing Karin. What she was far less relieved about, was that Naruto had joined the fray, standing next to Kakashi, as they both stared at Sasuke meters away from them. She had come here on her own so that Naruto and Kakashi wouldn't have to bear the burden. And more than that, she'd come here to talk not to fight. Everything with Naruto and Sasuke became a fight. And now she had worked out the truth, or most of it. She needed to talk with him, even more than before. Sakura jumped from the bridge landing between Sasuke, and the rest of original team 7.

"Sasuke-kun!" She said, slowly walking towards him, her hands held up in placation.

"Sakura-chan, don't!" Naruto shouted, but she ignored him.

"I know. I know about Ita—" She gasped as Sasuke was suddenly in front of her, his eyes crazed and livid, his hand wrapped tightly around her throat.

"Bastard! It's not what you think!" Naruto shouted, panicked, taking two steps forward before Kakashi's shaking hand stopped him.

"Sasuke! Let Sakura go!" Kakashi shouted, wide eyed and too scared to make a move or allow Naruto to make one, lest Sasuke kill Sakura right then and there. He was too fast. If that's what he decided, they wouldn't reach her in time.

"Stop lying! You all thought a poor copy would make me hesitate enough to give you an opening?! You should never have tried such a dirty trick!" Sasuke shouted, his voice completely broken and hysterical. This was good. This was perfect. He wanted to silence that pathetic fake's perfect voice, and now he'd crush their windpipe. That would show them not to play at Sakura after what they'd done to her. He lifted her by the neck so her feet dangled in the air.

"Put Sakura-chan down!" Naruto screamed, terrified.

"Sasuke, please you don't know what you're doing! She's not—" Kakashi begged desperately. Both of them were terrified that they were about to watch her die in front of them.

"S-Sasu..ke-kun…" Her eyes caught on something midnight blue and pink tucked under his shirt and purple rope belt, only visible because his shirt was hanging open. Sakura's eyes widened…she recognized that midnight blue and pink pattern.

"He…kept it?" There was a strange lifting in her chest while simultaneously her stomach plunged. Her gaze shot to Sasuke's crazed eyes locked on her, but…something was wrong…they weren't quite focused on her face.

"His eyes…like Itachi…" Sakura knew she could kick herself free, or break Sasuke's wrist or arm to allow her oxygen. She did neither. Instead she reached forward, covering his eyes with one hand. She felt Sasuke's eyelashes flutter against her palm in shock.

For a millisecond, Sasuke's grip on her neck just barely loosened allowing her a quick breath before it locked even tighter in panic.

"What are you doing?! Get—" But before Sasuke could fling her away from him or tighten his grip until her neck snapped, a soothing, healing chakra coated his eyes easing the pain that had been building in them.

"…Y-you k-kept it…the c-crane…I'm so s-sorry, S-Sasuke-kun…I…th-thought you were t-too lost…" She gasped out.

Sasuke stopped breathing, his grip loosening so Sakura could breathe, though he didn't release her. She knew about the crane…he supposed Kakashi had been there, he could have told the fake about it, but it was such a small detail that he didn't think Kakashi would have bothered to mention it. And more than that, he knew that chakra. He felt it in the dream he'd been less sure was actually a dream, and then again right before he'd passed out and woken up in Madara's cave. That was Sakura's chakra. You could copy appearance, voice, movements…but it was nearly impossible to copy chakra. Very few possessed that ability. Even if they could copy her signature, that didn't mean they could copy her medical ninjutsu, especially not for something as delicate as medical ninjutsu applied to the eyes. And even more than that…healing while being slowly killed by a monster…that was undeniably Sakura. All three together, the crane, her chakra, healing him in this situation…it was Sakura. His Sakura. There was no one else this could have been. But how…she was dead? Wasn't she? He'd buried her…but if that corpse had been the copy…

He slowly lowered her, so her feet were once again in contact with the water. "What are you doing?" He breathed again, though this time not in panic.

"You've been straining your eyes too much, Sasuke-kun." She murmured softly, though her voice had a rasp to it from the damage to her vocal chords. Sasuke's hand, not around her throat reached up and circled around her wrist. This time, his touch was soft, his hand slightly shaking, as he gently pulled her hand from his eyes.

She hadn't restored his vision fully. He didn't think that was possible. But his eyes, at least temporarily, were less blurry and for the first time in the last few days, he could truly consider that he was seeing. And as he stared into her eyes, steadily streaming with tears, there was no denying that this was Sakura. His Sakura. The clarity in his eyes shot straight through to the murk covering his heart, clearing a small path through the hate for the first time in years. And with a surge of panic, he was certain that just like with his eyes, that clarity wouldn't last.

He stared into her nature-green gaze like a life line, reading every emotion swimming through them, as if they were the map out of the muddy hate he was already feeling attempt to pull him back under.

"…Sakura?" He breathed. Cause it was her. She was alive. She was real.

Sakura's eyes narrowed just the slightest bit, before widening in recognition. "It's been a while, Sasuke-kun." She smiled, giving a small, relieved laugh, as tears splashed over her cheeks.

He was about to reach up to wipe them away, when he realized with growing horror where the hand not at her wrist was. He'd been strangling her. Tightly enough to bruise, ugly purple lines in the shape of his fingers. He'd hurt her. He nearly killed her three separate times in the past twenty minutes.

He jerked his hands away from her, as if her skin burned him. "You need to get away from me."

"Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?"

"I hurt you!" He was beginning to panic, feeling the muddy hatred encroaching on his clarity.

Something was whispering at the back of his mind that it didn't matter. Sakura may be alive, but Konoha still ordered the massacre…Danzo had confirmed that. Even if Madara had been lying about Sakura, he hadn't lied about that. Konoha still hated and feared the Uchiha. They mocked Itachi's sacrifice daily, by carrying on happily as if nothing was wrong. As if they didn't have Uchiha blood soaking their hands. As if even before the massacre, they hadn't exiled them to the outskirts of Konoha, and barred them from any positions of government while pretending they respected the Uchiha clan's power.

The mud was beginning to rise around him slowly pulling him under, but he locked his gaze on Sakura's love filled eyes and held fast to them, while taking a step away from her.

"Sakura, you need to get away from me, before I end up hurting you again!" He said, urgently, not trusting how long his moment of clarity would last.

Naruto and Kakashi were now slowly approaching, wanting to be there to support them both, but too scared of speaking and interrupting the moment, breaking Sasuke's clarity.

"Sasuke-kun, let us help you!" Sakura said firmly, her face serious, eyes still crying, as she took a step closer to him, reaching out to cradle his cheek, but Sasuke leaned away from her.

He shook his head, looking almost as scared as he was of Orochimaru in the forest of death, taking further steps to physically distance himself from her, his body shaking. "You can't die Sakura. You can't or I'll really—I can't lose you! I can't be responsible for killing you!" A wave of nausea hit him at how close he'd been to doing just that, and how excited and eager he'd been to do it.

"You won't!" Sakura argued firmly. "You didn't just now when you could have. I'm okay. You were confused. You won't hurt me again, Sasuke-kun."

But Sasuke was shaking his head slowly, his eyes wide, trained on her, his expression absolutely horrified. Because he felt the mud pulling him under again, it was up to his chest and steadily rising. The whispers at the back of his mind were growing louder, reminding him painfully about all he'd lost at Konoha's hands. About how little they'd cared for his clan from the start. About how they'd forced Itachi, peace loving, pacifist Itachi, into murdering his own flesh and blood. About how they used Sasuke's life, an innocent child no more than eight, as a hostage to force Itachi into it so they didn't have to get their own hands dirty.

His breathing grew uneven. He never wanted to hurt her. He always wanted to go back to her. He made her cry so many times, but she was always the absolute last person he wished to hurt. But he didn't trust himself anymore. He hurt her. He tried to kill her three times just now. He nearly succeeded. He still hated Konoha. He still wanted to destroy them. To avenge his clan and bring them to justice. Sakura was the exception. She never benefited from their policies. She hated many of them. She'd also been forced to the outskirts, her family denied basic rights because of their lack of Shinobi status. She didn't count. But the rest of Konoha did…and he could hurt her. He could lose himself and hurt her like he already had…

"N-no…I…I might…I…Please, Sakura! You can't die on me while…" He didn't trust himself. The mud had reached his face, covering his mouth, the whispers were no longer contained at the back of his mind, they were ringing loudly through his head. He didn't realize he collapsed to his knees, or that he'd grabbed his own head, his fingers knotting painfully in his hair.

"He's…fighting something…" She could see it clearly, like he was at war with himself. She fell to her knees in front of him, reaching out to grab his wrists but he wrenched away from her again.

He pulled his panicked gaze to Kakashi and Naruto, true recognition shooting through his eyes for the first time this encounter. They may have been Konoha ninja, they may not have been exceptions to his rule, but in his fading clarity, he knew they both loved Sakura and would keep her safe.

"You need to get her away from me!" He ordered.

"R-Right…" Naruto murmured, his eyes just as wide as Sasuke's. He slowly moved towards Sakura, kneeling next to her. "S-Sakura-chan…I think…"

"No! Sasuke-kun, I'm right here. We're right here. We want to help you! Let us help you! You won't hurt me. You would never do that." She spoke firmly, with growing urgency, sensing whatever this was, was about to slip away.

Sasuke stared frantically at Naruto, who continued to stare at him with shocked and confused eyes. "Sakura-chan…" He murmured, placing his hands on her shoulders, and giving a gentle tug.

Sasuke knew the clarity was fading. The whispers were too loud, and a new one had been added, that how dare Naruto try and pull Sakura away from him, even though he was acutely aware that he'd been the one to ask Naruto to do so. He didn't have much longer before the mud pulled him under, and there was no way he was wasting those last moments of clarity staring at Naruto. He brought his gaze back to Sakura, staring at her. She was abnormally pale, despite how the cold typically brought a natural flush to her cheeks, and there was something wrong with her eyes…they were shadowed, with slight bags underneath them. Almost like…

Sasuke's eyes narrowed on her suspiciously. "You haven't been sleeping." He accused. And then the mud overtook him.

Naruto pulled her away from him, his gaze trained on Sasuke, a serious look on his face. Sakura fought against him, trying to reach out to Sasuke again, but Naruto pulled her a few meters from Sasuke, and Kakashi put an arm around her, holding her in place as Naruto turned to face his best friend.

Sasuke was still on his knees clutching his head, peels of insane laughter slipping past his lips. The scum, Danzo, was dead and Sakura was alive. All that was left was to destroy Konoha and all would be right with the world. The Uchiha name would be cleansed. Sakura would be safe from those callous, elitist, power hungry parasites. He was so close to righting everything. But the small voice from the corner of his heart had managed to reclaim some footing, and it was screaming that Sakura would be miserable if he killed everyone in Konoha. That they weren't all at fault, just the government. And not even the current Hokage. Just the council. And should he really even still pursue this? It was clear that that was what Madara wanted. Madara, who Itachi hadn't trusted or wanted near Sasuke. Madara who lied about Sakura being dead. Madara who somehow had roped him into joining the Akatsuki and going after the eight tails. But Madara had told him the truth about Itachi—Danzo had verified it was the truth.

His head pounded, his vision growing blurrier in time with his mounting confusion.

"Sasuke." Naruto called.

Sasuke looked over at him, with an unfocused gaze. Sakura made another push forward, but Kakashi wrapped his other arm around her as well, in a way that felt more like a hug than a restraint, though it functioned to hold her in place well enough.

"What?!" Sasuke's unfocused gaze sharpened into a cold glare.

"Tobi told me the truth about Itachi." Naruto announced.

Despite the despair and heart break she felt, those words managed to lodge themselves into Sakura's shellshocked brain.

"The truth about Itachi…so Naruto and Kakashi-sensei know something…that Akatsuki told them…When?…it seemed…In that village, when Kiba mentioned Itachi, Naruto had said that it wasn't like that, like he knew something, but Kakashi-sensei stopped him…so…they knew about it by then? What's the truth? My theory? That it was a Root mission? But…Why wouldn't they tell me?"

She felt Kakashi's arms tighten around her and glanced up to see him looking down at her, his normally bored eyes soft, sad, and guilty.

"I promise I'll tell you everything, but right now isn't the time."

Sakura nodded, her eyes falling back on Sasuke and Naruto, as a fresh onslaught of tears burned her vision.

"I don't know whether he was lying or not, but it doesn't matter, because what you've been doing…I get it." Naruto announced.

"I told you before. What could you, with no parents or siblings possibly know about me!" Sasuke growled, jumping up in his anger. "All you outsiders just shut up!"

"That's not fair, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted. No one would get away with belittling what Naruto went through and felt. She understood now, that had been a bit of why Sai had confronted her in the first place, because she and everyone else had made him feel like there was no place for his sadness as the village hero. "Naruto may not have had parents or siblings, but he had bonds that were as good as…and he's lost them. It may not be the exact same, but it's more than enough to understand." Sakura admonished.

Sasuke's unfocused glare had shifted to Sakura's general direction, lessening in intensity infinitesimally.

"So then…you think you get it?" Sasuke drawled, his gaze sliding back to Naruto. "Then tell me, if you get what I'm feeling: recently, I finally got to take revenge on the one behind Itachi-nii-san's betrayal. I killed a Konoha elder, right here!" Sasuke said, his voice regaining the insane edge it had, as he glanced up at the bridge above him. "The one called Danzo."

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock. Sasuke had killed Danzo?!

"…the one behind Itachi's betrayal…sounds like it's what I'm guessing. A mission issued—or maybe forced?—on Itachi by Danzo…still…why order a mission like that?! And why on earth would Itachi have taken it? What reason would Danzo have for taking out the Uchiha? Their power benefited the village…so why…?" Sakura couldn't find a single ounce of sadness, remorse, sympathy…anything really, at the news of Danzo's death. If anything, she may have felt a trace amount of satisfaction or relief. That man was a monster, who absolutely should not have been responsible for governing Konoha. His death meant the title defaulted back to Tsunade, who proved she was more than worthy of the mantle already, or that someone new would be picked, and Sakura couldn't imagine there was an option worse than Danzo.

"I've never felt like this before." Sasuke sounded emptily triumphant, his voice tinged with insanity. "I feel the tainted Uchiha name becoming cleansed. I feel the Uchiha name becoming freed from this rotting shinobi world. And isn't that what Konoha wanted all along? You've always snubbed and put down the Uchiha. So fine, I'll help erase the Uchiha from your memories. I'll destroy Konoha itself! The severing of all bonds is the ultimate purification! And that shall lead to Uchiha's true restoration!" Sasuke declared, practically radiating the darkness and hatred filling him. "So Naruto, do you get it? Do you understand how I feel?"

"…Sasuke-kun…" It was hard to believe the boy she loved had been present only a minute ago. She didn't even see a trace of him, and if it hadn't been for Naruto and Kakashi there as witnesses, she would have thought she'd hallucinated Sasuke's temporary lucidity.

Kakashi's arm once again tightened around Sakura's shaking body, to offer grounding and bracing comfort, though he doubted she was in danger of a reaction. Heart break, despair, misery…those were downer emotions. What was happening to Sasuke was the result of a repeated history of accumulating hatred. Even if it wasn't crystal clear to Naruto and Sakura, what they were seeing with their own eyes was that Sasuke was a victim of the times they were living in. Sasuke was right that the shinobi system was rotten and flawed, as it turned people into this…shades of themselves filled with rage and hate. And more than that, what happened to Sasuke was his own fault. He was the teacher, the adult, the only authority figure the boy had left in his life. And Kakashi had failed him. Dealing with Sasuke was his responsibility. His burden. Sakura and Naruto shouldn't have felt responsible for this…but that had also been his one and only glowing success as a teacher. Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Naruto and Sakura had practically branded that lesson on their hearts. So, while they shouldn't have, of course they felt responsible. Of course they wanted to save him. And if they couldn't get him to see the light, of course they'd want to be the ones to put an end to it all together.

But to everyone's shock, Naruto laughed. "Yeah, you can say all that, bastard, but now I know you're really in there, so there's no way I'm gonna give up!" His smile dropped, face growing serious. "And yeah…well, not quite, but yeah. I do get it. I felt that gratification when I beat Pain…I wanted to destroy all the Akatsuki for taking Pervy Sage…for taking you. Honestly…I still kinda want to. And I think our roles could pretty easily be reversed. Remember? The entire village used to hate me. 'Cause I have the nine tails inside me. And I hated them right back. I was just a kid, and pretty useless, so the only way I could get revenge on them were meaningless pranks. But if I was as strong back then as I am now?…One wrong move, and I could have been like you. I used to think I didn't have bonds with anyone, until I met you and Iruka-sensei in the Academy." Naruto was smiling again. "I knew you were like me, alone too. It made me feel better, cause we were alone together. I wanted to be your friend so bad back then. To be around you all the time, cause it made me happy. And I would hang around you, but I never could get myself to be your friend, cause I was also jealous. You were so damn good at everything! So rather than my friend, I declared you my rival. You were my goal." Naruto's smile saddened. "Really I just should have grown up and tried to be your friend. It would have been so much better…we may not be here. Still…you as my rival…that was a bond I built. I had nothing before that. Those bonds with you and Iruka-sensei, they saved me. And then we were put on team 7 and sent out on missions together, and you became my goal even more—I wanted to be cool and strong just like you." Naruto grinned, and it was his full sunny smile, without an ounce of sadness. "I'm so happy I knew you!"

He could hear Naruto's smile, even if all he could see of it was white blurring into tan. It made him viscerally ill. "You think that puts you on the same level as me? You think you get it?! Only a child can smile like that! One who hasn't had the place they grew up protecting and believing in rip their family apart! Even in the academy, even when we were genin, you would laugh! You would play! Forming bonds with me? With Iruka? Team 7? You jumped into those bonds without fear! You forged them without any second thought! Konoha never threatened them! Never put them at risk! Never was the reason those bonds were destroyed! Nothing you say will change what they've done. And your pretty words won't change me! I'm going to destroy that corrupt shit hole you so desperately want to lead, and I'll kill anyone who stands behind it, including you!" Anyone except her…because Konoha had ruined her family. Because Sakura rarely really laughed. She never played. She was a victim of Konoha's filthy corrupt elitist hatred as well. It looked different. It wasn't the same. She couldn't understand exactly what he felt, and he couldn't understand what she felt. And at twelve she'd already been forced to mature enough to recognize that, and be understanding and caring regardless.

Sasuke's glare had sharpened. "Grow up. Your only choices are to kill me, and be the hero of that corrupt hell you praise as your village, or be killed by me, and be the loser you always were."

Naruto looked down, his smile fading, eyes sliding closed. Hearing Sasuke lay it out, no. He still didn't get it. He didn't know what it was like to be an adult at eight years old. To not be able to be a child, the way the rest of team 7 had. But he understood enough. All the anger. The need to blame. To see someone pay for their actions. To feel like you were still in communication with the ones who were taken away. To feel like you made their death up to them. To feel like you were cleansing them, giving them peace. He understood all of that. And that was enough. Sakura had told him so. And he'd told her so. He didn't need to understand every single thing. He just had to be there. To try. And for him and Sasuke…that had always looked like one thing.

"Do you remember what you said to me at the Valley? The thing about when two shinobi are of a high enough level?"

Sasuke didn't say anything, but the memory floated up through the murk, tinged with all the anger and bitterness he felt back then.

When two Shinobi are of a high enough level, they can read each other's thoughts through no more than a trade of blows. They don't need to say a word…so tell me. Do you know my thoughts? Can you tell me what's on my mind?

Naruto looked back up locking onto Sasuke's unfocused fury-burning eyes, and gave the confident, hostile smile that always used to proceed the issuing of a challenge.

"Nah! I already decided. We're gonna fight. And it's probably gonna hurt real bad." He let out a small angry chuckle. "Actually, it'll do more than hurt. we're both real strong now. If we fight, we'll die. But no matter what, I'm still gonna punch the sense back into you!" Naruto declared.

"The hell you're going to die. I won't let you!" Sakura whispered, though only Kakashi heard her. His arm locked in place firmly against her, lest she try to run forward.

"What is it with you?! What do you want?! Why do you keep messing in my business?!" Sasuke shouted.

"Because you're my friend." Naruto left no room for argument. "I haven't given up on you. Neither has Sakura-chan. Neither of us ever will. Especially not now that we've seen you're still in there."

"Heh." Sasuke laughed darkly. "You're so ready to die, aren't you?"

Naruto wove his hands behind his head, smiling brightly. "Well, on the bright side, if we both die, I won't be the nine tails anymore, and you won't be an Uchiha. We can just meet and hang in the afterlife."

"Finally tossed out that ridiculous dream then?" Sasuke snorted.

Naruto shrugged. "What kind of Hokage would I be, if I can't even save a friend?"

"Well then, say goodbye, Naruto!" Sasuke's chidori flared to life, charging towards Naruto in blind rage. "You're in my way!"

Naruto readied a rasengan to meet his blow, but before Sasuke could reach him, a strange entirely white man with only half of his face appeared in front of Sasuke. The white man quickly pivoted and grabbed Sasuke around the chest, forcing him to stop.

"What the hell—who—?" Sasuke growled, glaring at the white man, before his eyes narrowed, able to make out the man through the blur. "You're…! When?" He recognized Zetsu, despite how he was missing the black half and strange bone-like cage that usually framed the weird man's body. His chidori faltered to non-existence, and he had to fight to keep his labored breathing subtle. He was severely drained of chakra from the battle with Danzo, and then with Sakura (it still made him sick to think he'd actually attempted to and nearly succeeded in killing Sakura) and Kakashi. He'd barely had enough chakra to form that chidori he was about to use on Naruto, who had always had chakra in spades and didn't seem to be coming from any battles.

"I've been tagging along for a while. Tobi told me not to let you see me."

Sasuke tensed. Why? Why was Madara keeping such a close eye on him? What did he want from him? Why had he lied about Sakura? What was he trying to get him to do?

"But this is a crisis situation…" Zetsu continued, eyeing the trio of Konoha ninja. He needed to alert Madara, Sasuke was becoming too chaotic, not following orders.

The air next to Zetsu swirled, folding in on itself, until out popped Madara.

"I told you to go rest." Madara said, glancing over his shoulder at Sasuke, kneeling on the river. He turned to face the three Konoha shinobi…Kakashi, of course, the nine tails, and…the pink-haired girl. Shit. No wonder Sasuke was flexing disobedience. That girl was a major wrench in his plan. What was that girl even doing here? She was a medic—what was Konoha doing, letting their medics wander into such dangerous situations when the whole village was destroyed? They hadn't changed at all. It was just like with Rin. They never valued her life either. He had to play this cool, like Sasuke wasn't slipping from his grasp.

"I'll arrange the proper time and place for fighting them. Right now, we retreat."

Why? Why go with him? But where else was there to go? There was Sakura. But she was with Konoha, and Sasuke couldn't trust himself around her. So long as he was capable of snapping as he had, so long as his hatred was drowning him, he was a danger to her. He'd left in the first place, partly so that he wouldn't be a danger to her, so she wouldn't become Itachi's target. Now not only did he himself present a threat, but Madara had used her image to manipulate him, and the closer he placed himself to her, the more likely he was to go after her. He hadn't hidden that bond with her from Madara. He'd been too broken and empty when he'd awoken without her presence. So what was he supposed to do now?

"I'll fight in your stead. You two go." Zetsu announced, several of his clones rising from the water.

"NO! NOT AGAIN!"

Sakura didn't care to hear what Tobi turned to say to Zetsu. All she knew was she was tired. Tired of loosing Sasuke. Tired of the Akatsuki threatening Naruto and the other jinchuriki. Tired of people threatening and harming her teammates.

Kakashi hadn't been prepared for how Sakura burst forward, tearing herself from his grasp. She darted until she was next to Naruto, sliding to a stop a little in front of him as she pulled out two paper fans. In one fluid motion, the small wave of chakra built as she spun, her arm sweeping in a graceful downward arc, her chakra flowing down her arm and out through her fan as it sliced across the water.

A wave, far larger than one the river had ever seen before, though not dangerously so, tore across the surface, disrupting Zetsu's clones. Madara leapt back lightly, easily avoiding the wave, but Sasuke remained where he was, letting the icy water splash over him. It was there. Her chakra. Faint and barely detectable, the feel slightly different then when she applied her chakra medically. It stung more, instead of cool and soothing, it was bitingly cold. Like the snowy air around them. But even despite the sharpness to it, there was still something energizing to it, in a way that was so uniquely Sakura. And just as her healing chakra had given his heart a moment of clarity, her combative chakra momentarily cleared his head.

There was a good chance Madara would either kill her or orchestrate her death for real, to manipulate him again, or use the threat of that to tether him. But conversely, if Sasuke went with him, kept a close eye on him, he could ensure that never came to pass. If he so much as made a whisper of a threat towards Sakura, Sasuke would just kill him. No matter what his end game, Madara had made it clear he was no fan of Konoha, so in a way, their goals still aligned. And if he stayed close, he may be able to uncover some more information on the Uchiha that would help clarify his path. So his next move was decided. He'd stay close to Madara to keep tabs on him while he figured out his next steps against Konoha and find more information on the Uchiha…but Sasuke would never trust him. That was also why he would be keeping tabs on the man. To figure out why Madara was trying to manipulate him. What he was trying to use him for. And to keep tabs on the man, he needed to be able to see. He needed his brother's eyes.

"You're not getting anywhere near Naruto, or taking Sasuke-kun without going through me first!" Sakura shouted, glaring hard at Tobi and Zetsu.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and turned to see Naruto smiling softly at her, before he faced the masked man, his smile becoming more combative. "And if you make any move to hurt Sakura-chan, or take the bastard with you, you'll have to go through me!" He declared.

Sakura felt the warmth emanating from his hand down her shoulder, and thawing the ice that had frozen her insides. "That's right. Cause we're friends and teammates. And we're always going to have each other's backs."

"Yeah! So Sasuke, we're gonna bear the burden of your hatred right there with you. So you keep it in check with everyone else, and then throw all that hatred at us, cause we're the only ones who can deal with it." Naruto paused briefly, glancing at Sakura, before amending, "or well, we all know you won't throw it at Sakura-chan, so just at me I guess. But know that we're both gonna be there to shoulder it, regardless."

Sasuke's clouded eyes shifted between the pink blur he knew was Sakura, and the orange one he knew was Naruto. The idiot was right that his hate would never be directed at Sakura, but that was all the more reason to not include her in this. So no matter how Naruto would try to drag her into it, and thus drag her down with them, he refused to let that happen. Naruto wanted his hatred? Fine. He'd have it. And only him.

"Fine. You'll be the first one I kill, Naruto." Sasuke agreed, his voice far more measured and controlled then before. He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and immediately stiffened.

"Let's go, Sasuke…" Madara said.

"Madara…we need to talk." Sasuke's voice was dark and quiet. He'd have to play his cards carefully.

"No!" Sakura was about to try another swipe of her fan, but her wrist was stopped by Kakashi.

"I'll leave Sasuke to you two, but I'll put an end to Madara here and now!" He said, his mangekyo swirling to life, as he activated his Kamui again. If he could stop Madara, he may be able to end the war before it began.

"Don't bother, Kakashi. That jutsu won't work on me." Madara said, holding out his hand and neutralizing the jutsu.

"He can neutralize sensei's jutsu? In general, the ways to do that include genjutsu, disruption to the caster's chakra flow, or overpowering and coopting the jutsu. I didn't sense any genjutsu being cast, and Kakashi-sensei would have been able to recognize and break it. To disrupt the caster's chakra flow from a distance, you need to use genjutsu, otherwise any disruption needs physical contact. Already ruled out genjutsu, and there's been no physical contact. That means he overpowered and coopted it…which means he has to be able to use the same jutsu. Is it a jutsu all sharingan can use? If it's not, then the likelihood that Kakashi-sensei and this Tobi or Madara or whatever his name is, got their eyes from the same person goes up."

Madara put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and the two were pulled from existence.

"Damnit!"

Sakura felt the warm hand on her shoulder giving it a light squeeze.

"We'll be waiting, Sasuke." Naruto declared. His voice strong and sunny.

Despite how exhausted she was, how shattered her insides felt, and the tears still streaming down her face, Sakura felt a smile pulling at her lips.

"Your damn right we will." She spoke softly, before turning to Naruto and pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank you…and I'm sorry for telling you to give up."

Naruto's eyes softened, his own arms wrapping around her easily. "Thank you, Sakura-chan, for trying to handle everything with our friends so I wouldn't be hurt. I'm sorry for not realizing how hard of a time you've been having recently. Everyone treats me like a hero now and gives me free passes, but they've been pushing you hard without giving you any of the credit you deserve." Naruto let out a small chuckle. "It's no wonder you love him so much. It was only, what, five seconds before he realized how exhausted you were?"

"I…" Her throat was so tight, she knew if she weren't already crying, this would be when she started. "I swear Naruto, I didn't come here to kill him. I just wanted to talk…but when I tried…I thought…I thought he was gone…"

Naruto's arms tightened around her. "There was a minute there when he was…when I…I thought he might be too. But we found out he wasn't. I've always been trying to shoulder it myself, even after you said you wanted to do it together. I…I rely on you so much and I wanted to show you I was reliable too, so I was determined to keep that promise I made you no matter what. But I think all that may have done was push you away and isolate you. I'm still gonna keep my promise to you, but I'm formally amending it. Sakura-chan, I promise we're gonna bring Sasuke back together. You and me both. It's a promise of a life time." He declared, pulling away and holding out his pinky.

Sakura smiled, curling her pinky around his. "A promise of a lifetime. We're gonna bring him back."

They held their pinkies locked together for a moment. And then, all the cortisol and adrenaline drained from her, her weeks of next to no sleep and barely full meals, her constantly taxed chakra and seal maintenance all hit her, dead-dropping on her like a boulder. She felt light headed, and swayed on her feet.

"Sakura-chan?"

Before she could say anything, Kakashi was suddenly in front of her. "You and I need to have a long talk Sakura, but before that you need to get some sleep. I'll carry you, so get some rest."

Sakura blinked at him as he turned around and knelt in front of her, so she was staring at his back.

"Sai, Kiba, and Lee-san…I still need to wake them up." She murmured softly.

"We'll stop along the way. What do I need to give them?"

"I can—"

"No. You can get some sleep. And I won't be waking you up. What do I need to give them?"

Sakura stared a little dazed, before reaching into her pouch and withdrawing a vial. She triple checked it was the right one before handing it to Kakashi. "It's an olfactory based application. Just uncork it and wave it under their noses. Once they get a good inhale, it'll wake them up."

Kakashi nodded accepting the vial and slipping it into his vest pocket. And then Sakura climbed on to his back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Kakashi secured her legs and stood, bringing Sakura up with him. Sakura rested her head against his shoulder, her eyes already beginning to fall shut. The last thing she heard was Kakashi telling Naruto to carry Karin.

"So what did you want to discuss?" Madara asked measuredly. He was watching Sasuke carefully, trying to determine the boy's state. Sasuke had seen the girl he loved, so he knew Madara had lied to him. But Danzo was dead, so he was sure the truth about the massacre had been confirmed. He wasn't sure where the boy would fall now.

"I want Itachi's eyes." Sasuke stated, his tone and face giving nothing away.

"…so you're finally ready…" Madara murmured. "You've overused the Susano'o. I was aware that your vision was almost gone. It's good timing."

"Implant them immediately."

"Such a sudden change in tune. What's brought this on? You were so against it before."

Itachi's will was to protect Konoha. He wouldn't be doing that. But he would protect her. He'd protect Sakura, and he thought his brother would approve of that motivation. To do that, he needed to stay close to Madara. He needed to keep a very close and watchful eye on the man. And he needed to be able to see clearly to do that. But he couldn't say that.

"I will crush Naruto with all I've got! I'll eradicate him completely!…that's final." It wasn't a lie. But not the whole truth. Not the deeper reason for the change.

And Madara believed it.

Author's note: Okay this is one of those scenes I've had in my head since the start of the story. That being said it has gone through SEVERAL iterations. Originally he didn't think she was dead, and I don't remember what my justification of it was...I think just that he was almost like possessed by his hatred, that's how lost he was? But yeah, in this he thinks she's fake, and he's got confirmation bias, so literally everything she does and says confirms in his head that she's fake. She's exhausted emotionally and physically, so she's not fighting at her smartest, strongest, or most technical level, and that severs as proof for Sasuke that she's not the real Sakura cause Sakura is smart, and strong, and has incredible technical skill in combat. So she can't be the real Sakura. Until she sees the crane and tries to heal his eyes. That's a choice only Sakura would make. And her chakra confirms it's her. I've said it before and hope I'm succeeding, but I'm trying to write Sasuke as suffering truly from the curse of hatred. Again in retrospect, it may cheapen the Naruto story a little. Hate is a human thing that this family in particular constantly suffers from. The message is a little deeper if the Uchiha suffer from run-of-the-mill human hate, and that's what Naruto has to overcome. The way I'm writing it, the curse of hate is almost an external thing. Yes Sasuke has darkness in him, but he's still there under it. It's not a huge difference, but the way I'm writing it has an implication of the hate kinda more possessing him than belonging to him. I don't think it's "worse" than Kishimoto's messaging, but it is slightly different. I've never actually hated this scene or Sakura in it, until the end when Naruto shows up and declares he'll carry everything and Kakashi and Sakura are both like go for it fam. I feel like that defeats the whole previous scene when Naruto learns how responsible Sakura feels for dumping everything on him. And it takes a bat to Sakura's agency in her choice to actively try and be a part of bringing Sasuke back and helping Naruto. So that changed. Now it's Naruto maturing to recognize that this matter involves her, asking her to sit it out is isolating and unfair, and friends are there for each other, it shouldn't be a one sided thing. And Sakura recognizing the same, that it's having each other's backs, not trying to carry everything. I also hate how they handle the post-scene of this. In canon, Naruto get's poisoned by Sakura's kunai, so he gets sick, which Kakashi and Karin blame Sakura for, and again they blame her (and she blames herself) for Kiba, Lee, and Sai being passed out. In all fairness the latter is her fault. But it rubs me the wrong way that they go straight to blaming Sakura for everything and putting her at fault again, when that was why she did everything to begin with: because Sai emotionally manipulated and guilted her into her choice, framing Naruto's burden as her fault. So it's meant to be comedic, and a consequence for reckless action, but it feels like it's just piling on more reason for Sakura to hate herself, and the audience to hate her. I don't think Sakura should get away without consequences-Kiba will probably give her a hard time, and Kakashi and her are going to have a looooong talk (haven't decided if this will happen on or off page), which will definitely include a lecture, but it'll have more empathy to it, and they're not all just gonna blame it on Sakura. It's such an icky way to end a scene that's supposed to be really impactful and hope affirming.

Thank you so so much for all the lovely reviews! They really mean the world to me, and renew my drive to keep writing. I had a lot of internal pressure for this scene, and I really hope it delivered. I know people have a lot of mixed and very polarizing feelings about this scene and arc in particular. It was a little scary to write because of that. I hope it's satisfying and delivered. It's what felt authentic to me for this version of the characters. Thank you so much for reading this far! :)