Her Experience

by Tiny.Dncer

Sakura has been taking care of her sick civilian mother alone since she was 8. But now a full fledged ninja placed on team 7, she must learn how to stop holding herself back and let her team in, although, that proves challenging when her teammates are the wild and childish Naruto Uzumaki and her cold closed off long time crush, Sasuke Uchiha. (Better explanation inside.)

40. War Day 2 pt I

A/N: Hi. Sorry. I forgot how damn long the war arc is. The part where I knew what Sakura was doing was waaaay later in the war arc, so this part was just as hard to write as last chapter was. Oops. Anyway, sorry for the wait, here's the next chapter, and it's picking up right where the last one left off.

"Inner Sakura..."

"Sakura's thoughts..."

memory...

Standard Disclaimers apply.

---

"Of his own volition, he won't hurt me, I don't think. And he still seems to have some control of his mind, so he can give me answers. But the jutsu caster will probably make him fight me. Of anyone to be facing an Uchiha alone, I'm the best shot…he'll have a hard time pulling off any genjutsu on me, even with his sharingan, and I'll have a natural defense with my reactions against his tsukiyomi. But with his level of heightened genjutsu, breaking it will leave me defenseless for a moment…and a moment is all Itachi really needs. I have to be very careful about my approach to this battle, and no looking at his eyes this time."

Itachi was regarding her as calm and calculating as he always seemed anytime she'd encountered him. So un-akatsuki-like.

"I have some questions for you." She said after a long moment.

"Yes, it is high time we talked." Itachi agreed. "It's come to my attention that my secret has been revealed to Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi."

"Did Kakashi-sensei tell you? Did you fight him? Is he okay?" She asked, questions firing one after another.

"Naruto, actually."

"Naruto?!" He was supposed to be safe on a hidden and untraceable island mastering the Kyubi.

"Does that mean he mastered it?…Well if he did, it's not like anything would have stopped him from breaking out to help his friends. Us laying our lives on the line for him would never be something he could accept."

"My body's only just left him."

"His body…so he's a clone."

"Is he alright?"

"Yes."

"How can he be alright? The jutsu wielder would never have let Itachi walk away without subduing Naruto. He also wouldn't be standing here as a clone just talking to me unless…"

"Are you not under the control of the edotensei anymore?"

"That's right. I've broken free."

"How?"

"Shisui." Itachi said, his gaze boring into her.

"Thanks. Now I have a thousand more questions for you." Sakura muttered, Itachi's lips twitched up at the corners in mild amusement.

"I'm here to give you answers. Naruto hadn't mentioned that you knew the truth, but you were already beginning to put the pieces together back when you tried to stop us from hurting the Kazekage. I figure you're only farther along in your deductions, and given what you and Sasuke are to each other, if anyone deserves to know the truth, it's you."

"Okay. Well in that case…are you going to talk to Sasuke-kun? He…he really needs you right now."

"That is one of my intentions at the moment. Though actively, I'm on my way to put an end to this cursed jutsu."

"Don't end it without talking to him." Sakura said sharply. "I mean it. He's really lost. He needs you…he needs his big brother. He always has."

A profound look of sadness flashed across his face…the first time he'd ever intentionally let his guard down and emotions show. He really did intend to be honest with her this time.

"I've made many mistakes, Sakura-chan. Ones that have not only greatly harmed Sasuke, but have left all the responsibility of that harm to you and Naruto. For that, I'm truly sorry."

"You had no choice though, right? The Massacre was a mission issued by Danzo with Sasuke-kun's life at stake. You accepted to protect your brother…but no matter how good you were, a thirteen-year-old wouldn't have been able to take out one of the most powerful clans in the village on your own. Tobi approached you and offered to help you, if you joined the Akatsuki, you took him up on the offer. Am I wrong?"

Itachi watched her for a long second. "You're a truly frightening opponent, Sakura-chan. To be able to deduce so much from so little."

"I don't have all the pieces. I know Danzo had to have been afraid of the Uchiha, viewed them as a threat to the village somehow, but I don't know why. I don't know why your parents wouldn't have attempted to fight you at all, for Sasuke-kun's sake. I don't get Tobi's deal at all—I have a lot of theories but I'm missing any crucial information to back them. I have no idea what happened with you and Shisui—was he brought back too?—and I have more questions about the Sharingan than I can find any credible data for."

"The massacre was a mission issued by Danzo. You're correct. He did threaten Sasuke's life to get me to do it. You're right about that as well. And Tobi, as you call him, Madara as I figured him to be, did aid me in the massacre before inviting me to join the Akatsuki. Though, I was the one who discovered him near the village and asked for his help. I wish we had the time to go over how you put it all together, but there's never enough time during war." Itachi looked around a little sadly.

"Were you in the third war? Was that when you awoke your sharingan?" Sakura asked, her eyes narrowing. "You never liked violence—you always tried asking or using genjutsu when you could. Was it because of the war?"

"Sasuke has good taste." He looked mildly amused again. "And is acutely aware of what he needs, thankfully. Both our upbringing and the horror I put him through taught him to be closed off, to keep his mouth shut and his emotions closely locked away. Someone who can read, deduce, and understand him is necessary."

"Not a lot of time, but you can still dote on your brother." It wasn't an accusation. It was her turn to be mildly amused. It made her wish she had a sibling who loved her so much. It would have been nice to not be alone taking care of her mother by herself. It would have been nice to have someone to share her emotions and struggles with at the time. Ino would have been there if she'd let her—she'd made plenty of mistakes too.

"Forgive me, I haven't had many opportunities to do it. I do hate war. I wasn't in it, but I was shown it when I was four. What I had seen of it as a child was a nightmare. One that left me hopeless and desolate. And then Sasuke was born, and there was hope again, someone small and innocent, and worth protecting. So when the Uchiha began plotting a coup, when they planned for a civil war…Danzo was a horrible man, needlessly aggressive and hateful towards the Uchiha. But he wasn't completely wrong to be wary. The Uchiha had grown tired of the village's hostility and mistrust, just because of their power. Indeed it felt undeserved and unfair, as the Hyuga were also very powerful, with strong doujutsu, but no one feared them or treated them as a clan of outcasts. When Lord Fourth was selected over my father, the resentment began to truly come to a boil, and when the Uchiha were accused of orchestrating the kyubi attack, it was the final straw. I tried many times to talk father out of his plans, but he wouldn't give in. He pushed me to join the ANBU as a spy for the Uchiha, but I became a double agent."

"That was the tension between you and your father, that made Sasuke-kun so anxious."

"Yes. You said you have questions about the sharingan…do you have theories on how it works?"

"I haven't had enough data to confirm, but my theory is that every mangekyo sharingan posses its own unique ability, as well as enhancing the abilities of the standard sharingan."

"Truly brilliant." Itachi complemented. "Some variations may seem similar to each other, but they're all different. Even from the same person's left eye to their right, so they could have multiple abilities. Shisui's eye had a very unique and dangerously powerful ability. Kotoamatsukami. A form of genjutsu so subtle the target is fully unaware of being under its influence, allowing the user to enter their mind and manipulate them by giving them false experiences, making it seem that they're taking actions of their own free will."

"Mind control." Sakura murmured. "That's horrifying."

"Which is why everyone was quite fortunate it was Shisui who had obtained that power, and not anyone else. It reached a point where the plan was for Shisui to use the jutsu on my father to subvert the coup, but Danzo didn't believe it would be enough and attacked Shisui, catching him off guard and stealing his right eye. Worried he was right, and that he would try to steal his left eye as well, Shisui entrusted it to me and commit suicide, erasing his body as he did so."

Sakura's lips pursed tightly as she was hit by a new swell of hatred for Danzo. "That sick son of a bitch." She muttered, before shaking her head and focusing on everything else Itachi said. "Erased his body…so he hasn't been brought back…"

"No." Itachi confirmed.

"He did it in front of you, didn't he? That's how you awakened your mangekyo."

Itachi nodded.

"He was your best friend, who killed himself in front of you for the sake of the clan and Konoha. That's why the insinuation that you killed him made you so upset, even while you didn't flinch at the mention of the massacre."

Itachi nodded again, his stoic face showing a hint of sadness. "Shisui was my closest friend, almost a brother. I've…come to terms with my choice to carry out the massacre. It was necessary to save both Sasuke, and the village from another war, and by the time it'd come to that, I already felt like a mistrusted outcast by my clan and family—except Sasuke and…" Itachi paused, before changing the direction of his sentence entirely. "There was tension and emotional distance I could fall back on. But Shisui's death was unnecessary and pointless. It removed the option of a peaceful, bloodless resolution. And Shisui remained my closest friend until the day he died. There was never tension or mistrust between us…being accused of his death…it was something I could never stomach the thought of."

"If you weren't so suspicious, I never would have brought it up back then…if I knew…but you didn't want anyone to know. Was it because of Danzo? Was part of the deal that you not come back?" Sakura asked, recalling how she'd challenged him when he stood in their way of Gaara.

"No. That was my own choice. While I made peace with what I did, I've never been above guilt. To appease my own guilt, and secure Sasuke's standing in the village, I thought if I made him seek vengeance on me, he'd be a village hero."

"Yeah, that was a bad fucking plan!" Sakura spat, her empathy temporarily buckling under her temper.

"So I've come to learn. I'm not perfect, Sakura-chan."

"Oh that was never a word I ascribed to you." She stated bluntly.

"Do you ascribe it to Sasuke?"

"No. Not even when we were genin. I didn't always know how to handle my feelings fairly, so I never laid into him as hard as I did Naruto, but I wasn't blind to his callousness, hot-headedness, how he operated in extremes…or the darkness in him. The darkness you put there. He wasn't always like that, when we were young." Unbidden into her mind came Sasuke's diary entries. How there were times he smiled, warm and excited when they were young.

"He wasn't." Itachi agreed. "Sakura-chan, are you aware that we're referred to as a cursed clan?"

"No, but I guess that's something else Sasuke-kun and I have in common." Sakura muttered.

Itachi blinked. "You're chakra…that time at the inn."

"Upper emotions, I've started calling them. If I have an emotional response strong enough to spike my heart rate over a certain threshold, it triggers a mass, chaotic, overproduction of my chakra…far more than my body can naturally handle."

"I see…" Itachi murmured his brow furrowing. "It's more alike than I would have thought."

"What is? Why are the Uchiha considered a cursed clan?"

"As you've noticed, the sharingan awakens in moments of intense anguish and trauma. But what it really is, is love. The sharingan awakens out of the pain of loss that we feel when we lose a loved one. The mangekyo awakens when we are responsible for the loss of our strongest bond…at least, that's what's believed. The Uchiha are a clan that love fiercely and in excess, and that love can be corrupted."

"Love and hate are related emotions with a razor thin line delineating them." Sakura murmured, recalling how Ino had explained the similarities.

"Yes. It's partially why our upbringing emphasized a level of reservedness and emotional control. I was always better at that than Sasuke though. Nor should it have been something a child should have to be good at." Itachi's gaze turned soul penetrating. "Does that frighten you? That Sasuke's emotions run so deep? That the amount of love he holds has been turned against the village and if you and Naruto do save him, very well could be again?"

"For fucks sake, you think I'm scared of Sasuke-kun's hatred?! Maybe when I was 13 a little bit, but even then, not really—cause there's so much more to him than that! Hell, he's so deep in it right now, he almost didn't recognize me! But you know what, he still managed too. It took a lot, but he recognized me and the second he did, he came out of it. So this curse of hatred bullshit can go fuck itself! Cause—almost to the point of frustration—it hasn't stopped me from loving him!"

Sakura shook her head as Itachi continued to regard her. "This isn't important right now! I'm running out of time. I need to get to the front."

"Who's Tobi? Or Madara? Is he a real Uchiha?"

"Real Uchiha?" Itachi questioned, allowing the topic change. He knew they were short on time as well. "I assumed he was, as he knew about places sacred to the Uchiha, like the Nakano Shrine. He also possessed the mangekyo sharingan and had full mastery and detailed knowledge of it. Do you have reason to believe he isn't a true Uchiha?"

"His mangekyo's power is very similar to Kakashi-sensei's. I thought they may come from the same source—Kakashi-sensei's teammate that he lost during the war, Uchiha Obito."

"Tobi is an incomplete anagram of Obito." Itachi said immediately, his brow furrowing.

I should introduce you to my eldest son. He's close to your age, and very smart too. I think you two would get along.

Sakura recalled Mikoto's words to her when she'd disguised herself during her first attempt at street performing.

"That was my first thought too, but Kakashi-sensei insisted that there was no way Tobi could be Obito. He's certain Obito died during the war. So I thought maybe it was someone who had an obsession with the Uchiha, or Obito in specific, and had acquired his other eye—Kakashi-sensei only has one."

"I won't say that's impossible, but we Uchiha closely guarded our secrets and abilities…I find it unlikely Tobi would know so much of our clan if he wasn't a part of it. It was why I thought he might be Madara himself."

"Madara was one of the founders of Konoha, right? Didn't he die long ago? Why did you think it may be him?"

"There's a mangekyo jutsu that could have made it possible. One that among the clan, Madara was known to have possessed. It would have been a…creative use of the jutsu, but possible."

"So it is possible for Tobi to really be Madara."

"It's possible. Although…As I currently stand here, and we are considering the possibility of Madara having escaped death, Kakashi's certainty may be misplaced."

"So you aren't discounting the possibility that Tobi is Obito."

"No. The similarity in the names coupled with the similarity in their sharingan is too much of a coincidence to discount. Though I do doubt the possibility of him being someone with a mere obsession with the Uchiha."

"So he's either of two historically dead Uchiha, both of which are incredibly bad news for us."

"On one hand he's either the devastatingly powerful co-founder of Konoha who only the First Hokage could rival, and on the other hand, he'll emotionally cripple Kakashi-sensei. If it is Obito…why would he do this? Why would he have fallen this far? I know how Sasuke-kun got to the point he's at now—there's a clearly traceable path. And Madara had a falling out with Lord First when they disagreed about how to run the village. If that festered enough…yeah, maybe he could get here. But Obito? Why?"

"I fear we're low on time. You need to get to the front. I've already left the task of taking care of Sasuke to Naruto, but I believe that task is equally yours as well. I'm truly sorry to leave you both such a heavy responsibility, and to have caused Sasuke so much pain…Sakura-chan, you don't strike me as the type to need this sort of request, but please, do not tell anyone else of the Uchiha coup or my mission. Do not allow the Uchiha name to be tarnished."

"I won't. It's not my place…But did you ever consider that your actions as they're currently known have also tarnished the Uchiha name, and that your true actions would actually cleanse it?"

Itachi stared at her, his face falling into its neutral hard to read mask. He gave no answer.

"Just something to consider, before you stop the jutsu caster."

"It isn't something I've ever considered…but my mind is made up." Itachi said after a beat.

Sakura shrugged. "It's your and Sasuke-kun's call." Sakura started to head for the front again, but stopped abruptly, turning to face Itachi one last time. "You know, I met your mother once, and she said something interesting to me."

Itachi didn't say anything, but his continued presence and the weight of his stare told her he was listening.

"I was really poor up until the last few years. When I was eight, to try and make more money I started street dancing. I used a henge jutsu so none of my classmates would see me and make fun of me. I made myself look closer to eleven, as a part of that disguise. Your mom was the only one to stop and watch me dance until the end. She gave me fifty ryo and stopped to talk with me. She said her eldest son was close to my age and she wanted to introduce me to him cause he was very smart too and she thought we'd get along."

Itachi's face softened, a small smile pulling at his lips. "I think she was right." Itachi put a hand on the top of her head, lightly tussling her hair, the way Kakashi often did. "Don't die, little sister."

Sakura's brain processed two things simultaneously:

One was the echo of Sasuke's Don't die while I'm gone, Sakura. Please.

The other was what Itachi called her.

"L-l-little s-sister?!" The implication certainly wasn't lost on her, though she had no clue how they could get to marriage from their current circumstances.

She actually heard Itachi laugh, and then he was gone. And she had to get going too. There wasn't time to be flustered. She had a war front to get to.

---

The war front she had been ordered to go to was Gaara's, and by the time she'd reached it, it seemed like much of the fighting had settled. There were many wounded, but when she stopped to tend to them, they all insisted she check on Gaara first, which was both heart warming and frustrating. As much as she loved and cared about Gaara, her job was a medic, and she wasn't to ignore an injured patient in front of her. However, because of her care for Gaara, the cohorts insistence she check on him first was overwhelming her standard sense of duty. She'd gotten pretty good at identifying who was the most injured from a look alone, so she managed it by stabilizing the severely wounded and assigning who was to bring them to the med-base before running deeper into the battlefield to check in with Gaara. As much as she was worried about him physically, she was also worried about him emotionally. Odds were, the jutsu caster had brought back his father—the fourth kazekage who'd made him a jinchuriki, kept his siblings away from him, isolated him, and attempted to assassinate him multiple times.

He wasn't that hard to find—she just had to look for where the most sand was gathered. When she located him, he seemed to be standing still, his opponent caught in a pyramid of sand, their head peaking out the top.

"Gaara-kun!" She called, skidding to a stop by his side and quickly looking him over. Compared to everyone else, the physical damage he'd sustained looked fairly minimal, which was good, though she still wanted to do a check. He did look pretty tired though. Since Shukaku was removed, she was pretty sure she'd be able to share her chakra with him now, but she didn't have the chakra to spare. Yet. Roughly 13-18 hours left. Then it wouldn't even be a question.

"Sakura?" Gaara turned to her, instantly feeling conflicted. On one hand, Sakura's presence was always a welcome one—comforting and warm, on the other, it was always a risk to have a medic so close to the front lines, and there were four people Gaara was certain he couldn't bare losing: his siblings, Naruto, and Sakura. And knowing of Sakura's dangerous kekkei genkai, he was even less fond of the idea that she was so close to the monstrously strong opponents the edotensei had brought forth. But, he also knew if there was any medic who could stand on the front in these conditions, it was Sakura. After all, she had killed Sasori of the red sand.

"I was ordered to come to this front…maybe because most of the fighting was over." Sakura explained quickly, glancing over at Gaara's immobilized opponent, while wasting no time in scanning Gaara for injuries. He was more injured than common for Gaara, what with his sand armor, but it was all skin deep bruises at most. The main problem came down to chakra levels.

"I see. I'm fine." Gaara assuaged.

"Are you? They've specifically brought back ninja with kekkei genkai, and I'd assume many of the kage, which would include your father."

Gaara fought the smile twitching at his lips. Her question went unvoiced, but Gaara heard it easily, and that familiar warmth pressed in on him, enough to rival the desert summer.

"I fought him." Immediately her caring green eyes grew glacial and hard on his behalf. He was so glad Sasuke had been mistaken, so glad she wasn't dead. "I'm alright," he soothed, "it was a good thing. I finally proved myself to him and learned the truth. My mother really had loved me all along…" It was still a fact that left him reeling. For so long, his only company had been his sand, and now he learned that his sand had been filled with is mother's soul and love. She'd been there with him the whole time, protecting him.

Sakura's eyes softened again, a smile spreading across her face despite standing on a battle field. Not that it was surprising. This was the same girl who'd smiled at him while he crushed her to death. Why should he be shocked that the battle field wouldn't dim her brilliance?

"I'm glad that it healed rather than hurt." Her smile slipped into a very earnest expression, as she began giving him a report. "I've healed the most critically wounded and instructed the rest to be brought back to med-base."

"How many?"

Sakura grimaced. "A lot. But it could be much worse. You still have a functional number for your battalion. And there were minimal fatalities."

"Good, though I wish there could have been none." Gaara said, closing his eyes in respect. When he opened them again, Sakura wore an understanding expression though there was a glacial edge to her eyes that he'd seen on rare occasion before. "That's a luxury war doesn't give."

Sakura turned, her eyes narrowing on Gaara's current edotensei enemy, who was fully immobilized and almost fully sealed. He was watching the two of them with interest, but before she could read into his look, someone landed on Gaara's other side.

"You all right, Gaara?!" Naruto's ever loud voice rang.

"What's the news on your end?" Gaara asked by way of answering. He wasn't surprised by Naruto's presence, so Sakura figured they must have connected and started working together far earlier.

"We've sealed the raikage! Something exploded so I raced up here faster than Temari and the others!"

"I see. We're almost done as well." Gaara said, glancing at his enemy.

Then Naruto noticed Sakura, his eyes lighting up. "Sakura-chan! Hey!"

"Itachi said you were joining the front. I knew you'd get the Kyubi under control!"

Naruto laughed a little, rubbing at his nose. "Yup! Met my mom too! You're a lot like her Sakura-chan! I'll tell ya about her once we get this settled. So Itachi did find you?"

"Yeah, I got my questions answered finally. It's roughly what I thought. You've definitely got a lot to fix when you become Hokage." Sakura said, her voice taking a darker edge.

Naruto nodded, his expression serious. "I know." Then his eyes lightened. "Good thing I got a friend who's already a kage to give me tips." He said beaming at Gaara. "So, where's your enemy?"

"Aww you do have friends!"

Sakura turned to Gaara's enemy, her eyes narrowing again. "Is that…a former kage?"

"Gengetsu Hozuki, the second Mizukage." Gaara said.

"What?!" Naruto shouted. "What is he? What a weird body!"

"That's not his body, dummy!" Sakura admonished, rolling her eyes. For as mature as he'd gotten, Naruto could still be a total idiot sometimes.

"That's…my jutsu." Gaara sighed.

The second mizukage laughed. "So you're the smart one of your friends, eh Kazekage…"

"Actually that'd be Sakura." Gaara said.

The second mizukage laughed again. "You three make a good trio."

"Yeah…?" Gaara asked, a small smile on his face as he raised his hand, moving the sand over Gengetsu's head to complete the sealing.

Temari and the rest of Gaara's battalion finally caught up to them, gathering around for new orders now that their enemies had been defeated.

Gaara looked around, spotting a sensory ninja. "Relay our battle status to HQ." He ordered.

"Yes sir!"

"Good job against the former kage, everyone! The victory is ours on this battle field!" Temari shouted. "I'll turn it over to Sakura for medical instruction."

Sakura had never been more grateful for her medical persona, everyone's eyes on her made her uncomfortable. "Okay. If you're injured but still able to stand, group over there," Sakura pointed to a clear area. "Everyone else extract the wounded that couldn't be extracted earlier, and bring them over there," she pointed to where she'd already begun this process. "Once I stabilize and triage them, bring the red and yellow tags to med base, and green tags join the injured but still standing group, then you'll head for the closest medical team." She would have treated them all, but she didn't have the chakra for it. Not yet. But soon. So so soon.

"All those still capable of fighting, standby until we receive further orders from HQ!" Temari took over.

"You'll probably be redeployed to assist other fronts." The Tsuchikage said.

"Lord Tsuchikage, you should let Sakura take a look at you."

"…I'm totally fine…" the Tsuchikage said, before his back made an audible cracking sound. "Owww!"

"Stubborn." Sakura tsked, not waiting for permission to treat the Tsuchikage. He was in rough shape, both from injury and age. The war front was not the place for someone as old as him, but she knew there was no use in making that argument. The Tsuchikage wouldn't back down from this world war.

"So you're a clone, right?" Gaara asked Naruto. "Where's your real body right now?"

"With B. I think the rest of us should have arrived at each war front by now. And med-base."

"What for?" Sakura asked.

"He can tell which ones are imposters." Gaara explained.

"Oh, good! Thanks for including med base. Things were getting dicey. We were talking about closing the camp to not allow in new patients, which would have been a disaster." Sakura smiled, grateful that situation was under control now. She allowed herself to fully slip into her healing, losing focus on her surroundings to focus on her chakra rationing in relation to the amount of healing she still had to do.

It wasn't until everyone around her tensed that she brought her awareness back to the present, and nearly had a chakra reaction from the shock at how massive the chakra approaching them was, not from fear, but just the shock that she'd been so deeply focused that she hadn't sensed something so huge at all.

"Th-That's…!" The Tsuchikage gasped.

"You know him, old man?" Naruto asked, thrown by the chakra level the two approaching enemies had, especially the one with the long dark hair.

"At last…Uchiha Madara!" The Tsuchikage said.

That, had Sakura bolting up to stare at the man standing on the cliff over them. There was no mistaking the long ebony hair, pale skin, carved features, as that characteristic of the Uchiha. But even without those, there was no mistaking the glowing red sharingan. He was in a long black robe over black ninja pants, covered by traditional almost samurai-like armor.

"What's going on?!" Gaara breathed uncomprehendingly.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Look closely as his eyes…he's an edotensei!" Gaara said.

"Which means he had to be dead. Which means Tobi was lying when he claimed to be Madara."

"The edotensei recalls the dead back to this realm, and our working hypothesis is that it requires the user to have the dead body present. Which means Madara had to be dead." Sakura explained.

"W-Wait a sec! I thought HQ reported Madara elsewhere, approaching with a bunch of Jinchuriki!" Temari said.

"So the man in the mask, Tobi, can't be Madara." Sakura murmured, her mind sprinting.

"So it's confirmed he's not Madara. Does that mean he's Obito? Or someone who stole Obito's other eye? Itachi doesn't think that second options likely, so let's pretend he's Obito. Why do this? He was Kakashi-sensei's teammate. What would push him to this extreme?…wait. Kakashi-sensei said he unlocked the mangekyo, which means at the time of his supposed death, Obito didn't have the mangekyo yet…so when did he unlock it? Ugh! Not enough information and too much hypothesizing under uncertain circumstances!"

"Then…who is the man behind Madara's mask?!" Onoki asked.

"If this is the real Madara, then the guy we thought was Madara is not Madara?" Naruto asked, catching up.

"So it seems…" Gaara murmured.

"Tsuchikage, you used to utilize the akatsuki, can't you speculate on whom the masked man might be?" Temari asked.

"…There's no one I can think of. But it doesn't matter who he is! We still need to stop him!"

"Knowing your enemy never hurts though." Sakura muttered.

"Wait, Sakura-chan, you were never sold on the masked guy being Madara. You got any ideas?"

Sakura bit at her thumb, her other hand running through her hair in thought. "Can you put me in contact with Kakashi-sensei?" She asked, turning to the Yamanaka clan member.

"Uh…" he turned to Gaara for orders, who gave him a grave nod.

"Alright, give me a moment."

"Every time I bring this up though…It's gonna suck but I need to ask Kakashi-sensei about Obito directly. Maybe if I don't lead with the question of Tobi's identity and just ask about Obito, I might actually get some answers."

"Okay, I've got him. Go on."

"Sensei?"

"Sakura?" Kakashi's voice sounded in her mind.

"Sensei, what was Obito like?"

"Why is that important right now?" Kakashi asked. "We're in the middle of a war."

"Please sensei, I really need to know. What was he like?"

She could hear his sigh in her mind. "The three of us were a lot like you, Naruto, and Sasuke."

Sakura's mind began racing at that. "So Obito was like Sasuke-kun?"

"No. Obito was like Naruto."

And just like that, her mind jerked to a halt. Obito was like Naruto. Obito was like Naruto? Than how the hell could he have possibly become the masked man? If Obito had been like Sasuke, why the hell not? After all, look at where Sasuke was right now. But Naruto?

"In what ways was he like Naruto?"

"Well…a lot. He didn't know his parents either, though he lived with his grandmother, not alone. He was also determined to become Hokage. Announced it almost as much as Naruto did, and like Naruto, he was…a late bloomer, skills wise. Also like Naruto, he set his sights on a far more skilled classmate and pronounced him his rival." Kakashi's voice sounded fond and sad in her mind.

"That was you, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

Okay, how on earth could he have gone from that to the masked man—if he was the masked man? Kakashi said they were a lot like our team 7, so…

"What about Nohara Rin? What was his relationship with her?"

There was a drawn out pause they lacked the time for, in her mind. "Sakura, why do you need to know this?"

"I just do damnit! Please sensei! There's no time, please just tell me! I know this is a rough topic for you, so please believe me when I say I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think it was important!"

She heard Kakashi gathering himself in her mind. "Rin was very kind and smart. Far more sensible than either Obito or me. She would reign us in when our rivalry and sense of competition began to push us too far. She was also one of the first to be kind to and befriend Obito. And Obito…was in love with her."

This was beginning to sound very familiar. "Was she in love with him?"

"…No. I was the one she confessed to." Kakashi said.

Again Sakura's mind drew to a halt. She didn't love Obito? So then how could Obito have turned the way Sasuke did? But Obito was Naruto in this equation. Kakashi was Sasuke. And she was Rin. Rin loved Kakashi, but was a dear friend to Obito. Was the rejection the thing that turned him?

"Did Obito know that?"

"He had already died when she confessed to me, but I think he knew before that."

Sakura tried to put the image together, but the picture wouldn't form. She was still missing too many pieces.

"Sensei, was it Obito that you blamed yourself for killing and awakening your mangekyo with—wait, no it couldn't have been, because you got your sharingan from him when he was dying. Who was the friend you blamed yourself for killing then?"

There was another painfully long silence before he spoke again. "Rin. It was Rin. She'd been kidnapped and had the three tails forcibly put in her, with the goal of her losing control of it when she returned to Konoha and destroying the village. She asked me to kill her before that could happen. I refused. Obito asked me to protect her. I had promised. But on our way back, we were surrounded. I used the chidori and…she put herself in front of it."

"So…it was…like with Haku?" Sakura asked shakily, feeling incredibly guilty for even asking him to retell it. It was what had triggered his mangekyo—this was something truly painful for him.

"Yes."

"And Obito was already dead…Thank you for telling me. I'm so sorry for asking."

"Whatever you need it for Sakura, figure it out fast. If it brings this war to an end quickly…it was worth telling."

Sakura had enough sense to not point out that both from his own advice, and medically speaking, it was always worth telling. It wasn't the time for that.

Sakura nodded to the Yamanaka member, signaling the end of her conversation, as she turned her attention back to the Uchiha Madara in front of them.

There was no doubt he was the real deal. He cut through a whole line of soldiers with his taijutsu alone, before leaping back and sending the largest wall of fire she'd ever seen.

"There's no way I'm gonna be able to bargain for answers from him…he's…brutal. And doesn't seem all that chatty."

Then he used a jutsu she didn't recognize. A shadow grew on the ground around them, making Sakura look up at the largest rock she'd ever seen dropping towards the earth.

"A meteorite…? How?!"

"Ninjutsu?!…we can't out run that!"

The shinobi around her broke out in cries and exclamations of terror.

"It's too early to give up! Never give up without even trying! Always do something, anything, no matter how small an effect it may have!" The Tsuchikage called, before leaping up to meet the meteorite.

"Tsuchikage-sama!" One of the nearby soldiers shouted in shock.

"What the hell does that old man think he's doing?!"

"Everybody run now!" Gaara ordered.

Shinobi everywhere started to flee, attempting to reach a safe distance from the blast radius of the meteor. Sakura knew that was hopeless. A meteor of that size…no distance was safe enough.

Still…fleeing was better than nothing, as the Tsuchikage had said. Sakura turned to run, but froze when she heard a groaning nearby. There was a shinobi who had survived Madara's attack. Against all logical reasoning, Sakura turned back for him.

"Sakura!" Gaara shouted, turning back for her, as she slung the injured shinobi's arm over her shoulder.

Gaara raised his arms, sending sand racing to reach the meteor, aiding the Tsuchikage in stopping its decent.

Then the second meteorite crashed into the arrested one from above. Sakura quickly dropped her patient and covered him with her body, certain that this was the end. The earth shook violently, dust and rocks flying everywhere. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for her life to be over.

"Sorry mom, dad. I'm gonna come see you sooner than you want. Sasuke-kun…I died while you were gone…my bad."

The shaking stopped, but to her shock, she was still breathing. Her heart was still beating. She cracked her eye open at a world of dust and devastation.

"How…?" She coughed, turning to look behind her. Gaara was pushing himself shakily up, a shield of sand between them and the fallen meteor.

"Gaara-kun!"

She scrambled over to him to see if he was okay. Temari dropped down next to her.

"Are you okay, Gaara?" His sister asked frantically.

"I'm fine." Gaara rasped, feeling Sakura's hands on his back and shoulder, gently assisting him.

From several meters away—it was difficult to judge how many with her ears still ringing from the impact—she heard Naruto's perpetually loud voice shouting.

"What about Tsuchikage gramps?!"

"Thank the gods, that means Naruto's okay!"

Gaara turned to her, taking her hand that was on his shoulder. He wasn't sure if that was for his own reassurance, or hers. "I'm fine, Sakura. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to you. You saved my life, Gaara-kun. I owe you one!"

If the situation were any different, he would have laughed at the idea that she could ever owe him anything, after everything she'd done for him. Nothing he could do would ever be enough to payback what he owed her. Saving her life was an honor more than something deserving of payback. But now wasn't the time for that, so he simply shook his head.

"Can you go to the Tsuchikage? He's the one who needs you right now."

"Of course." Sakura turned to Temari. "There's gonna be a lot of injured after that. My previous orders to everyone still stands. Get the injured to the closest medical team as fast as you can, including him." Sakura said, nodding to the injured shinobi she nearly died to save.

Temari nodded, and Sakura didn't wait to see what she or Gaara did next. She staggered to her feet, took less then a second to find her balance and then took off, squinting through the dust and dirt filled air.

"Tsuchikage gramps!" She heard Naruto's voice, more declarative, as if he'd found the Tsuchikage.

Sakura took off in the direction of his voice. "Naruto?"

"Sakura-chan! Knew you'd be alright! Over here! Gramps needs help!"

Sakura finally located Naruto through the dust, standing above the tsuchikage, an allied shinobi kneeling next to them. She raced over to them, dropping to the tsuchikage's other side.

"How is he Sakura-chan?"

"Bad. But by some miracle, he's alive." Sakura wasted no further time, beginning to heal the old man. "Naruto, his wounds are severe and I'm low on chakra. I'm gonna need to really focus here, and in my current position, my back's to our enemies. I'll need cover and notice if they do another attack with wide reaching range like before."

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I won't let that undead old guy lay a finger on you."

Sakura let her awareness slip as she focused on her healing jutsu and chakra rationing. She hadn't even been on the battle field a full hour yet. She was still 13-18 hours out from unlocking her seal.

"Damn I wish this could go faster!" She by no means doubted her ability to maintain her chakra rations, but she also knew that if she was ever going to be in a situation where she felt the need to break her seal formation, it would be on the war front. She could practically hear Tsunade growling at her in the back of her mind to not even think about it. She never would. It would feel unfathomably stupid to break her seal after so much work and effort in the final hours.

She lost herself in her focus, only vaguely aware of three others coming to stand around them. The only thing to break her focus was Naruto's sudden cry of pain.

"Naruto?!" She asked, concern outweighing her growing exhaustion.

"My stomach…!" He groaned, doubling over.

Sakura bit her lip hard, glancing down at the Tsuchikage, who was still badly injured, but regaining consciousness. There was still work to be done. She couldn't stop treatment yet, but Naruto…

At roughly to their 4 o'clock, thick boughs of wood erupted from the earth, bowing towards them threateningly.

"He can do wood style?" One of the shinobi around her gasped. She registered that the other two who had joined them were Gaara and Tamari, but she didn't recognize the one who had spoken.

"I guess this is it for us…" the shinobi who had been kneeling next to the Tsuchikage when she first came over muttered.

Naruto suddenly straightened, and then before Sakura could process what was happening, there was a swarm of Narutos wielding several giant ransengans, meeting and shattering the boughs of wood.

Sakura didn't allow herself to get caught in the distraction, trusting Naruto would make it work. She needed to finish healing the Tsuchikage fast, so she could join her teammate and help him. Luckily she was good at her job. The Tsuchikage groaned and began to sit up—by no means advisable, but these were desperate times.

Naruto dropped to his knees, wincing and breathing hard.

"Naruto…" The Tsuchikage wheezed, "enough. I'll take over from here."

"You're hardly in the condition to do that." Sakura admonished, never ceasing in her healing. Her arms were starting to feel rubbery.

The Tsuchikage grunted. "I have a chance at reclamation. I've still got enough energy left for that!" He grunted.

"Yeah, I wasn't referring to your energy though." Sakura answered flatly.

"I'll fight him!" Ohnoki insisted.

"Listen to Sakura! You're already falling apart!" Temari protested.

"That's too bad. I'd like to try out some more jutsu. Not able to keep dancing, eh Ohnoki?" Madara drawled from the ledge he stood on, looking down at them.

In her exhaustion, Sakura's impulsivity took over. "I'll dance with you."

"Sakura!" Gaara gasped. "What are you saying?"

But Sakura was staring up at Madara, her gaze unwavering. Something was strange about one of his eyes. It looked more like Pain's eyes than a sharingan. But only in his left eye from what she could tell—his hair was covering his other eye, and she was certain she'd seen a true sharingan in it earlier.

"Gaara-kun," she asked quietly, not looking away, "I've got Tsuchikage-sama. Can you go help Naruto? He looks wiped."

It wasn't a request that she needed to make, he had been planing to do it regardless. He stared at her in concern for half a second longer, before rushing to Naruto's side.

"A medical ninja?" Madara drawled, his voice lazy with power. "How brave, little girl. But I won't waste my time with you: a medical ninja with barely any chakra to speak of. Your army must be truly desperate to allow the likes of you on the battlefield."

"So is the rinegan the evolution of the mangekyo?" Sakura asked, her voice blank and unbothered, to mask how much his dismissal terrified her. Because it was true. Maybe not if said by anyone else. Even for the likes of the Akatsuki, that would be underestimating her. But for him, for this man, for Uchiha Madara, it was undeniably true. That's how much greater his power was.

She allowed herself the small win that her question seemed to catch him off guard.

"And what would a little peasant girl like you know of the sharingan?"

"Quite a lot, actually."

"You dare mock the Uchiha, little girl?"

"Never. In fact, I believe I'm one of the very few who still honors them deeply." Sakura answered, her demeanor unflappable despite how her insides felt like they were freezing over. All they were doing was talking but she felt her fear steadily mounting. She focused on the feel of her healing chakra flowing to help ground and mitigate the fear. She couldn't afford a reaction right now.

"You certainly are foolish drawing his attention to you." Ohnoki grumbled, but if her tactic had been to stall, it had worked. Foolish as she may be, she was undeniably a skilled healer. She hadn't ceased her ninjutsu at all in that exchange and while it was painful, he was sure he could stand up now.

"Why waste your time with her? We have a score to settle!" He declared.

Madara eyed the pink haired medic a moment longer before his gaze slid back to Ohnoki, who glared at at him with resolve.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I showed you how different our strengths were from each other long ago, remember?"

"All these years, we shinobi have done nothing but battle. We fight for our nations, our villages. We just take from other nations, other villages! We take from them, they take from us back again! Three time our hatred caused all-out war!" Ohnoki said.

"That's life. How have you lived this long without learning from the wounds of the past?" Madara questioned dully.

"I've lived longer than you! I've been around the block! It's because I've experienced pain in the past that I can even consider what would be best for the future!" Ohnoki declared proudly, which was quite a feat given that he was still very wounded and not even on his feet yet.

"Yet, this is the fourth great ninja war. This is what's best?" The ninja standing next to Madara—the second Tsuchikage—asked sarcastically.

"That doesn't sound like a something a brought back predecessor would ask his junior. So then…is that the voice of the jutsu caster?"

"This war is different! We're all fighting this battle together in order to achieve something different than what we've fought over before!"

Ohnoki watched as a few meters in front of him, the kazekage, a former jinchuriki, helped the konoha jinchuriki to his feet, supporting him like a friend, while a konoha kunoichi was healing his wounds, and allied ninja knelt next to them in concern and support.

"Watching them, I learned that time does't just flow and pass by. Though slow in pace, the world does accrue its past experiences and grow towards peace."

"The world doesn't need to grow any further. It should just sleep peacefully under the genjutsu of the infinite tsukuyomi." Madara stated.

"Infinite tsukuyomi…so there's an amplified version of that nightmare world? Is that a rinnegan ability? No, wait, before that…what? That's their plan? But why? What purpose does that serve?"

"Tsukuyomi? That's the nightmare genjutsu. How does anyone sleep peacefully through that?" Sakura demanded, unable to help herself, despite how terrified she was of him. Her curiosity overpowered her fear. It just didn't make sense!

Madara's eyes slid back to her, narrowing a little. This little girl spoke as if she was familiar with the mangekyo genjutsu. But one such as her wouldn't have survived the tsukuyomi if she'd been subjected to it, so how did she know?

"The tsukuyomi depends on the wielder. If the user wishes it to be a nightmare, so be it. If the user wishes to let the world sleep in a peaceful dreamworld, it will be so." He answered flatly.

Sakura felt a boney hand on her shoulder, and cut off her jutsu as Ohnoki pushed himself up to standing, using her as a support. Medically speaking, there was still much healing to be done, but he was well enough to stand on his own. And thank god for that because her arms were burning from exhaustion. She needed to meditate, which wasn't going to be likely in this environment. Popping a food pill was an option…

"Long ago, you forced me to forsake myself. Thus, I shall win against you here! I will reclaim myself! You will be the one to sleep!"

Unfortunately, the Tsuchikage couldn't quite back up his words. As he went to take a step forward unaided, he stumbled and nearly collapsed. Sakura reached to steady him, but her arms were shaking and slow to respond.

"Shit!"

Thankfully, Gaara had glanced back and assessed the situation. A cushion of sand caught the Tsuchikage and righted him, acting as a support brace.

"I will help you reclaim yourself." Gaara stated, his gaze on Madara.

"The aged usually complain when those younger than them dote on them too much." One of the allied ninja next to Sakura murmured to the Ohnoki, who grumped in response.

"I'll allow you all to meddle this one time." He permitted.

"Still have some dance left in you?" Madara asked, eying the old man.

Sakura took a deep breath, feeling her chakra fall into rhythm with it, and then she rose to stand next to Ohnoki.

"You're a medical ninja, though. You're the one I won't accept meddling from." Ohnoki growled at her.

"Yeah well…I have something of a reckless and mildly disobedient streak, ain't that right, Naruto?"

"Yeah, Sakura-chan could rival me on that front." Naruto wheezed at Gaara's side.

The Tsuchikage gave a small shake of his head. "You're as impertinent as Tsunade-hime." Then he focused his attention back to Madara. "For the sake of my soul, and for the future! I shall take you down here and now!"

Madara and the second Tsuchikage rushed at them, but before they could reach them, there was a blinding flash of light, and in a whirl of robes and pale hair, Madara and the second Tsuchikage went flying backwards.

"Are you okay?" The Raikage shouted to Tsunade, both of whom now stood between them and Madara.

Blood dripped down Tsunade's arms, and Sakura assumed, she was bleeding other places as well, but Sakura knew that wouldn't be enough to phase her shishou.

"I am." Tsuande answered.

"She must be using the mitotic regeneration…the double edged sword of a jutsu, but if ever it was needed, it'd be against Madara."

"Granny Tsunade?!" Naruto gasped.

Tsunade glanced back, her eyes locking with Sakura. "Not yet, kid."

"Soon." Sakura countered.

"Soon isn't now." Tsunade shot back, her voice sharp.

Sakura's fists tightened at her sides. "I know she's right. My arms feel like they're gonna fall off, my chakra's so low. There's very little I could do to help in this battle, other than try and draw his fire and then dodge for my life…"

"According to him, the enemy's goal is to place the whole world under a genjutsu that will place everyone in a peaceful dreamworld. He seems to be under the impression it's the only way to bring peace to the world."

Tsunade snorted, her amber eyes turning on Madara. "Well, I suppose he's not wrong, if you consider mass extinction world peace. What life support and nourishment is humanity receiving while in this blissful dreamworld of yours?"

Madara didn't have time to answer before there was a sudden fizzling sound to Naruto's left, and three other Shinobi appeared, one of whom was the Mizukage.

"Waah!" Naruto jumped in shock.

"Seeing that everyone's still alive, we made it in time." The Mizukage said silkily.

"I can finally let loose, about time!" The Raikage grunted.

"I'm ready now too." Tsunade said, the markings of the mitotic regeneration receding back into the purple diamond on her forehead.

Gaara said nothing, but his demeanor was tense and serious, ready for battle.

"It really is worth living a long life." Ohnoki smirked, joining the kage in standing between Naruto, Sakura, and the other allied ninja, and Madara and the second Tsuchikage.

"Who'd have ever believed the day would come when all five kage united together in battle?!"

"How perfect," Madara rasped, looking down on them, "time for a test."

"I'll heal these two! Raikage, Mizukage! Buy me time!" Tsunade ordered, taking a step back so she was behind Ohnoki and Gaara, in the optimal position to treat their injuries.

"Let's go, Mizukage!"

"Aye!"

Sakura focused on their battle for three seconds before she felt like she would lose her mind. The Kage were frighteningly strong. As was Madara. She had no place in this battle—there was no way to provide combat support without her completed seal, even if her chakra wasn't so depleted.

"Granny Tsunade, are you sure?! Whenever you use that forehead mark jutsu, you get really old and fall down!" Naruto said, glancing at Sakura unsurely, as if to check if what he was saying was correct.

"It's different than when I fought Pain, Naruto. I've only healed myself so far, and these wounds aren't too bad. I've got plenty of chakra left!" Tsunade declared.

"Then let me heal them. Save all of your chakra for Madara!" Sakura offered taking a step forward.

Tsunade shook her head. "You're too low right now. Focus on replenishing your reserves."

"Then if you have enough—can you heal me too?!" Naruto asked. "Even if I'm just a clone, I can't afford to go poof yet! I wanna help out here!"

"That won't be necessary." Tsunade said firmly.

"Why not?!" Naruto shouted.

Gaara glanced back at his two dear friends, both so desperate to aid in the current battle.

"This war is no longer being fought just to protect you." Ohnoki declared.

In the combat, lava fell away as a shadowy spirit-like warrior arose, encasing Madara protectively while moving for an offensive attack.

"Lightening style teleportation and lava style kekkei genkai, eh? Impressive attacks." Madara said.

"I normally like men who don't melt easily, but I'd pass on you." The Mizukage stated.

"You're still able to block me, even with my speed. So I need to up my speed…and thus the power to destroy your guard!" The Raikage reasoned.

Gaara and Ohnoki watched grimly.

"How are your defenses?" Madara mused, eyeing the two of them.

The demonic ghostly warrior pulled a chain of what looked like shringan tomoe over its massive head and hurled them towards Gaara, Ohnoki, Tsunade, and the allied shinobi behind them.

The ghostly projectiles never reached them though, stopped by a giant stone golem, hugged by a giant stone woman.

"A stone golem and a sand shield…!" Temari gasped.

"This is now a battle to protect each other!" Ohnoki declared from where he and Gaara knelt, their hands on the ground to release their jutsu.

"I can help fight Madara!" Naruto insisted.

"Here he comes!" Ohnoki said, ignoring Naruto. "Let's go on the offensive! Mizukage! Raikage! Lend me your ears now!"

The two leapt back, to join Ohnoki, where he whispered a plan, and then he hopped onto the Raikage's back. "Mizukage!" He called.

"Water style: Hidden mist jutsu!"

A familiar fog began to obscure the area.

"Let's do it, Raikage!" Ohnoki ordered.

"Aye!" The Raikage called, charging forward.

And that was all they could see clearly. After that, was just thudding and shaking, and rocks shattering.

"Granny, heal me now!" Naruto begged, as the Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Mizukage returned.

"Listen Naruto." Ohnoki said. "You see, this war we're fighting…in the beginning I only agreed to join the allied shinobi forces to get rid of the Akatsuki. But as I fought alongside you all, I started feeling differently than I had in the past. So now, I want to be here as the Tsuchikage of the allied shinobi forces! Shinobi villages which used to be disparate and autonomous are changing, becoming one. This shinobi world system, which has so far only produced hatred, might be able to change as well! Let us deal with this Madara…I swear we shall finish him off! It'll be out first step in stopping the hatred we've been under until now! And since we kage, like Madara, similarly stirred up hatred in the past, it is our responsibility to make things right! So relax and leave him to us!"

"In exchange, you and Sakura go take care of the other Madara." Tsunade ordered, making both Naruto and Sakura straighten.

"That will become the first step in promoting hope for the future!" Ohnoki finished.

"Old one, new one, it does't matter," Tsunade picked up, "defeating both Madaras will lead to the end of this war! We will defend you on this battlefield! So protect us through your performance over there!" Tsunade paused, staring at the kid that reminded her so much of her brother and Dan, and the kid who had become her daughter. "Sakura, Naruto—clone or not—I give you these words from the five kage—"

"We shall win!" They all chorused, a promise resonating throughout all five great nations.

Sakura's breath caught, feeling the weight of the words and mission they'd been tasked with, the same way she felt when Tsunade first declared she'd inherit the sanin's power. Then she turned to Naruto.

"Where is he? I'll catch up with you."

"I think about 240 kilometers north-north west of here."

"Got it, I'll meet you there."

"See ya there, Sakura-chan!" And then the clone poofed out of existence.

Sakura turned north, and was about to run, when Tsunade's voice stopped her.

"Sakura, how soon?"

"13-18 hours." Sakura answered, knowing immediately what her shishou was asking.

"Don't die before then. More than ever, follow the rules. You are not allowed to die before then, am I clear?"

Sakura cracked a wry smile. "But I can die after that?"

"After that, you won't." Tsunade answered.

She turned away before Sakura got a good look at her expression, but she thought Tsunade may have seen a proud smirk. She stared at her mentor's back, feeling a cold feeling settle in her gut.

"This better not be the last time I see you, Shishou…"

And then there was no more time to waste, and Sakura took off.

---

The speed she was moving was exhausting, but the run didn't require chakra, and she'd gotten good at her chakra meditation while being on the move. She could feel her reserve slowly replenishing.

A few hours into her sprint, a giant octopus rose above the towering trees several kilometers away and decimated a huge section of forest.

"That was the eight-tales, which means that's where Naruto is."

Sakura picked up her speed, but slowed abruptly when it wasn't only a huge octopus anymore. There were seven other massively towering creatures braking the tree line, which Sakura was certain wasn't a good thing. She continued toward them until a large black ball of energy came barreling toward the section of mountain forest she was traversing.

"Shit! If that hits me, I'm dead, I have to clear its range."

Sakura quickly turned left and sprinted, her legs pushing so fast that she barely felt her feet touching the ground. The mountainous rocky terrain shifted to a downward incline under her feet, rendering gravity on her side. She broke through the tree line and on to the surface of a large lake, just as the black ball of energy collided with the section of mountainous forest she'd just been traversing.

Sakura turned to look, wide eyed, at the destruction. The force of the collision rippling the water she stood on. Sakura then turned her attention to the surrounding area. Where she'd been hadn't been the only area destroyed. She could see four other black energy balls destroying mountains and forests at multiple kilometer intervals.

"The sheer destructive power…so this is what a tailed beast is fully capable of. Okay Sakura. Get to Naruto. Do not let yourself get hit. You will not survive it."

Sakura set off again, on high alert, which turned out to be the right call, as not long after two black energy spheres collided in the air, growing into such a large blast that the shockwave actually blew her backwards.

"Damn. Hold out Naruto! You cannot die before I get there!"

Sakura waited for the worst of the shockwave to clear before taking off again.

"Running towards that feels insane! We're aware of that, yeah?!"

"Wildly aware. We're doing it anyway, shannaro!"

Sakura slid into a decimated clearing just in time to hear Naruto proudly declare, "I just learned a whole bunch of hard names all at once."

"Hard names? What does that have to do with anything?" Tobi questioned.

Naruto pointed an exhausted finger, and laughed. "So you don't know, do ya?! I ain't tellin' ya!"

Dust clouds and devastation were everywhere, a giant octopus-cow creature stood behind Naruto, Kakashi and Gai, facing Tobi who stood atop a giant monstrous…statute?

Sakura darted behind Naruto, placing a hand against his back to scan for injuries.

"Took you long enough, Sakura-chan!"

"Yeah well, I had some environmental disasters to contend with." Sakura dismissed. "You're not injured too badly, but your chakra's a little low. Think you have enough control over the nine-tails—"

"Kurama." Naruto stated.

"Kura—oh!"

I just learned a whole bunch of hard names all at once.

"Kurama. That must be the nine-tails name! After all, the one-tail was named Shukaku. They have sentients, so it makes sense that they'd each have a name!"

"Think Kurama will accept my chakra if I try and share a bit with you?" She asked

"Let me check!" Naruto paused. "He's shocked you referred to him by name so quick! Yeah, he'll allow it, now that he knows your keepin' us alive, Sakura-chan! But do you have enough chakra right now?"

"I'll worry about that. You just focus on not burning through your chakra too quickly." Sakura said. She'd gotten skilled enough at chakra transfers that she no longer needed skin to skin contact or hand to hand connection. Her chakra scan had already given her a read on Naruto's chakra rhythm, notably less chaotic than it had been before, now that he'd made peace with Kurama. For the first time ever, Sakura matched her rhythm to his and successfully shared her chakra with him.

"Sakura! You shouldn't be here!" Kakashi hissed. If there was one person he didn't want standing on this battlefield, it was her.

"Take it up with shishou, sensei. I'm here on her orders. Don't worry though, she forbid me from dying."

"Hokage-sama ordered you to come here?!" Kakashi asked in sheer disbelief.

"It's true sensei." Naruto affirmed. "Sakura-chan and I are doin' this together no matter what."

"We are team 7 after all." Sakura smiled.

"We three are one!" Naruto agreed.

"Naruto gaining such experience and strength…and Sakura showing such courage and confidence…makes me feel quite old and feeble." Gai muttered, though Kakashi heard him.

"What's going on? You're not being yourself! I hate to be the one to say it, but the springtime of our youth is still far from over Gai!" Kakashi said. He'd never been more proud of his students. Nor had he ever been as worried. "We still have a lot of work to do!"

"Quiet! You want to make me feel even worse?" Gai answered, falling into a battle stance.

"Ah that's the Gai I know." Kakashi said, falling into a stance of his own.

Tobi stared at Naruto and that pink haired girl, their expressions set and determined. She'd complicated everything several times over at this point. As unpredictable as Naruto was, she was a wild card in her own right. Whenever she was around, Naruto and Sasuke both grew all the more determined and willful, acted all the more recklessly, and grew all the more strong. And with all that Naruto had just accomplished, mastering the nine-tails completely, the absolute last thing he wanted was a more determined, reckless, strong Naruto. He reached behind him for his fan, his hand trembling a little. He felt a drop of liquid slide down his wrist and froze in disbelief. Was he sweating? More drops fell around him, relieving his worry. No. It was just raining. These fools could never make him sweat. But it was frustrating. He knew what Naruto's limits were! There's no way the jinchuriki's power could be pushing him this hard. Naruto was always merely a pawn to test Sasuke. He was supposed to be an amusement! So what was it? What happened?! And that girl…she'd never been accounted for in his plans. She wasn't even supposed to be a factor. But she'd managed to do what should have been impossible, and worm her way deep into Sasuke's heart, until the only way to motivate Sasuke had been to convince him of her death. She was a skilled medical ninja. Just like Rin. With her here, there was no telling how many more times Naruto would be able to get back up when he should no longer be moving.

It didn't matter. It didn't matter what or who Naruto or that girl were now.

"After this war is over, there will be no past or future. Nothing that exists now will matter! Nothing!" Tobi declared.

Sakura felt an icy pit form in her stomach. The idea of no past and no future was terrifying. The idea of nothing in existence mattering was terrifying. The idea of nothing was terrifying.

Sakura, you've lived your whole life in the present, because there was always an immediate problem requiring your attention…you've lived your life surviving one day at a time. Circumstances and a mindset like that don't allow for things like revenge or dreams.

"That's right. My will to survive is stronger than my past or my future. What matters most to me is myself and everyone I care about drawing our next breath. And I'm not the only one. Nothing is terrifying. But we're fighting a war with everything on our side. Every nation. Every shinobi. It's not just me vs. death, like is was when mom was sick. It's not just Naruto vs. the Akatsuki. It's not just us vs. the world. It's us and the world vs. nothing. So there's no way he can win, shannaro!"

Sakura felt Naruto twitch slightly under her hand, and shifted contact point from the middle of his back to his shoulder. "Naruto. We saved Konoha. Now we're trying to save the world. People trusted in us to do the impossible. This time though, they're not just trusting us. This time, everyone is standing with us!"

Naruto took one look at her face, and broke into a beaming smile. "We're doin' this together, Sakura-chan! We all are!"

---

Sasuke stood in a clearing ringed by trees and mountains. Rain poured down, puddling around the uneven earth, as he stared at the hoard of white zetsu facing him.

"So you've come running after me…?" Sasuke asked.

"What are you doing here?!" One of the Zetsu demanded.

"Or not, it seems." Sasuke murmured. If they weren't after him, than why were so many here? It wasn't adding up. Something strange was going on. Madara was gone again when he'd woken up. He may have gone after Sakura. He felt the paper crane pressed safely against his skin under his shirt. He wouldn't allow that to happen. "I passed by two towns on my way here, but they were both deserted…it seemed really odd. Do you know anything about it?" Sasuke asked.

"We'll do the questioning!" Shouted one of the Zetsu. "How come you're outside?"

That was right. He was a tool to these people. A weapon to be pointed in whatever direction they saw fit. A contingency plan he wasn't even made aware of. He wasn't a teammate. They weren't on the same side. Their goals may have seemed similar on the surface—the destruction of Konoha and this wretched shinobi system on the whole, that had so strained and hurt his brother and Sakura. But Madara and Zetsu had a different motive. One that didn't care about his one remaining precious person—maybe even sought to destroy her specifically.

From what he'd been able to gather over his months of recovery, all he could make of their motive was destruction for destruction's sake, with no effort or thoughts on how to rebuild from there.

"If you hate it that much that I'm outside, you ought to capture me. Especially since you outnumber me this time."

"You…have done something to our original?!" A white Zetsu gasped.

"With this many of you, I hope it's more of a challenge this time." Sasuke drawled, his sharingan bleeding into the eternal mangekyo sharingan. The hoard of Zetsu's charged at him. All around him, a ghostly energy knight surrounded him, holding a ball of black flames in its hand, which made quick work of the Zetsu hoard.

Sasuke watched impassively as the Zetsus burned. All except one, who was groaning in pain. Sasuke's susano'o picked the Zetsu up by its head, pinched between two of its phantom fingers. The susano'o brought the Zetsu eye level with Sasuke, who used his Sharingan to force answers from Zetsu.

"…It's war…take down…the enemy…"

"So Madara's launched his plan…who's the enemy?"

"…the allied…shinobi forces…"

"Allied shinobi forces…" Sasuke echoed. "Does that include Konoha?"

"…Yes…"

Which meant it included Sakura as well. She was a medical ninja though, so she shouldn't have been on the front lines. But Sakura was never good at backing down, and Madara wasn't the type to play fair. After all, he'd lied to Sasuke about Konoha having killed Sakura, going as far as giving him a fake body to bury.

"What's the meaning behind this war?" Sasuke demanded.

"…capture…killer bee…and…Uzumaki Naruto…"

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!

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…or well, we all know you won't throw it at Sakura-chan, so just at me I guess.

Fine. You'll be the first one I kill Naruto.

"If you don't hurry…more and more…will join up with…him." Zetsu wheezed.

If Madara's plan was to capture Naruto, that meant he needed him to enact whatever his destructive motivation was. So if Sasuke just killed Naruto now, before Madara could capture him, Madara's plan would go up in smoke, the world wouldn't be destroyed, which meant Sakura would be okay. At least, until he could get to Madara and the rest of Konoha and destroy them and the corrupt shinobi system they were stuck under…although…the allied forces…that was an interesting development…

"Well then, Naruto…I guess it's time for you to face my hatred…" Sasuke muttered, drawing his sword, and beheading Zetsu. He may be saving his hatred for Naruto, but Zetsu had proven himself to be a threat to Sakura on multiple occasions. And also, the guy just really rubbed him the wrong way. "It's time for me to find you and cut you down." Sasuke said, Naruto's dumb smiling face filling his mind, hatred and anger simmering up in him.

He heard a scrambling to his right, his eyes following the sound to a surviving Zetsu attempting to run. He couldn't allow him to get away and report to Madara. The susano'o extended its hand filled with black flame after him, and sent a blast of black fire at his retreating back, "You're not Konoha shinobi, so that promise doesn't extend to you." Sasuke said, watching as the black flames hit their target. "I'm getting used to these new eyes of mine, nii-san." He said quietly.

When you have the same eyes as I…you will find me again.

The words his brother once said to him, the visual memory of that moment played through his head, as if the scenes were burned into the eyes that were once his brothers. They were disgusting and sad and weighed Sasuke down. But that was only fitting. Sasuke sheathed his sword. He'd avenge his brother, and make sure Konoha and its corrupted system could no longer hurt Sakura.

Sasuke turned and took off in the direction the Zetsu had been heading. He only got a few steps into the tree line when a familiar black cloaked figure rushed past his right, up in the trees.

Sasuke froze, all thoughts of killing Naruto and Madara stalled. There was no way. Was that…Itachi?

It wasn't possible. He had to be mistaken…but his Sharingan was activated. He knew what he saw. And he wouldn't make a mistake like that. Images of his brother turning to him and poking him on the forehead when they were kids, and then again at the end of their final fight, hit his mind in an onslaught. Sasuke stared after the cloaked figure for a beat, and then another. And then he took off in hot pursuit, everything else forgotten.

"Wait! Is that you, nii-san?!" Itachi gave no response. "I said wait!" He shouted again, his susano'o activating, its phantom hand reaching for what he was certain was his older brother's running form.

Before the phantom hand made contact, a different phantom hand deflected it. Another susano'o, surrounding the running figure protectively.

"Susano'o…you are Itachi!" Sasuke growled.

"I didn't know you could do it too!" Itachi said, finally turning to look back at his brother over his shoulder.

"What are you—I thought you were dead!" Sasuke shouted, uncomprehending. Just when he thought he was certain of reality, it shifted around him. What was even real anymore?!

…Sakura. She'd remained the only constant. Her behavior was consistent from day one. She continued to care more for others than herself. She continued to put others needs before her own. She continued to love him. Sasuke could acknowledge Naruto was consistent as well…he remained just as annoying, obnoxious, and hyper fixated as before. Regardless of the nature of his feelings towards both of them, positive or negative, they remained the constants as his reality continued to fracture.

"This is Kabuto's jutsu. I'm an edotensei, a reanimated shinobi, back from the dead. I don't have a lot of time right now, Sasuke. There are things I have to do." Even as he said it, Itachi could practically hear Sakura yelling at him to talk with his brother.

"What about mom and dad? Are they back?!"

Itachi was silent, the longing and hope in his brother's voice physically painful. Sakura and Naruto were right. He really had gone about everything terribly. Look how badly he hurt his precious brother.

"Answer me, Nii-san! Are mom and dad back?!"

"…I haven't seen them, but I don't believe so."

Sasuke was silent for a long time before he spoke again. "What's the purpose of it? Why bring you back?"

"We reanimated dead are the army against the allied shinobi forces. We're fighting under the caster's will, not our own."

"So whose will are you acting under?" Sasuke asked. It sure sounded like his brother he was speaking too, but again his reality cracked as he was no longer sure of who he was really speaking to.

"My own. Thanks to Shisui, I was able to break myself out of their control."

Reality slightly stabilized at that answer.

"I'm sorry Sasuke. But I have to hurry. I don't have time for this right now."

Again reality cracked a little, and again the images of his brother poking him on the forehead before turning his back and leaving him, assaulted his mind.

"I don't care! You're the one who said it! To come find you once I had the same eyes as you! Now you want to run away from me?!" Sasuke bellowed.

"You're as obstinate as ever." Itachi sighed. Yet at the same time, it was so…Sasuke. Even as a child, he'd been curious, reading a lot and asking Itachi all sorts of questions. And of course, always chasing after him, wanting answers. Or to play. Or to train. "I suppose you save all your patience just for her."

"Sakura." Sasuke murmured immediately. So Itachi talked to her. "Did you meet her before or after you regained control?!" Sasuke demanded.

"After." Itachi answered. No more growing his brother's hatred or feeding his fears.

Sasuke let out a small huff of relief. "If you met her than you'd already know. She'd be the first to press for answers. So, answer me! Are you running away from me out of guilt…for being a liar?! You have no courage to tell me the truth!"

Itachi stayed silent, largely because he didn't even know where to begin.

"I know everything about you! I know what they did to you! That's why I will destroy Konoha!"

"Even though she's there?" Itachi asked quietly.

"You don't know what that village has put her through." Sasuke snapped. "Not her. But Konoha. The elders. The government. The rotten shinobi system that ruined our lives."

Itachi sighed. He really had done a horrid amount of damage to his dear brother. Naruto and Sakura had their work cut out for them. At the very least it was good to know that even through all the darkness, there was still evident love for Sakura…but that was how the Uchiha clan was after all. He'd killed everyone, even Izumi, the love of his life, to protect his brother who he loved that much more.

"When we fought, I told you we each live deep inside our own fantasy, remember? Your reality might be an illusion. But my truth is real."

"I no longer live inside a fantasy! I can see through your genjutsu! These are your eyes!" Sasuke growled. But even as he said it, he thought about how seconds before, he felt like his reality was cracking. About how his only constants were Sakura and Naruto.

Itachi didn't answer immediately, thinking about both what Naruto and Sakura had said.

Sasuke knows how much that made you suffer! But Sasuke is not like you, he's going to destroy Konoha! He's going to kill everyone that made you suffer!

Don't end it without talking to him…I mean it. He's really lost. He needs you…he needs his big brother. He always has.

"You still live in an illusion Sasuke. That part of you is still the same. But I've heard about what's happened to you. I know how you've changed."

"No!" Sasuke insisted. "You changed my world long ago! I was supposed to die! You were supposed to kill me along with our parents. But no…"

And so Itachi made his decision that he himself would drop the curtain on his own clan's history. So he didn't betray the Uchiha out of hatred…it was unavoidable. The discrimination that arose for the village's prosperity and the price of discord…he's shouldered all that by himself and sacrificed himself…no one can reproach him or his decision.

"Why me?! Why did you just spare me?!"

…but he just couldn't bring himself to kill you. Do you understand what that means? To him…your life was more precious than the entire village…

Itachi had to know what that did to him. How guilty it made him feel for being alive. How at least once an hour, he wished he had died that night…at least, until she danced into his life.

"Why me?! What's different about me versus our mother or father? Why not Izumi? Or mom? Or obachan and ojichan?! Why just me?!" Sasuke felt like he was breaking. It was a little surprising. He honestly hadn't thought there was much left to break.

"Because you didn't know anything. You didn't understand what the Uchiha clan had done, You were just a child." Itachi felt his throat tighten with all his mistakes. "It wasn't just for you, either. I wanted you to grow up to judge me. I deserved to be dealt with only by another Uchiha. I used your hatred…and I was wrong to do so. That hatred became a force that wields you, rather than a source of strength that you wielded. It made you go rogue. Even though all I wanted was for you to walk the right path. Before I died, I tried to lead you down that path of righteousness. I changed the signposts on that path with lies and my ocular powers."

Sasuke's anger was boiling up in him. "Did you expect me to just blindly follow your signposts without even thinking?! I don't care for that path—I never have! Since that day you were manipulating me—I knew it too! I thought I was fighting against it, not killing Naruto. Going to Orochimaru but not allowing myself to dive completely into his disgusting sadistic ways. You can screw your signposts, cause I wasn't looking for them. The first thing I wanted when you died, was to see Sakura. She was the path—not whatever you laid out for me. Even when I heard the truth about you from Madara, I still wanted to see Sakura. She was my signpost. And she was dead." Sasuke growled.

That almost made Itachi stop, though he managed to push forward. He hadn't heard the full story. There hadn't been time. No one told him that Sakura had anything to do with Sasuke's current trek down a bad path.

"Sakura-chan isn't dead." Itachi stated, confused.

"Yeah, well…you aren't the only one with a talent for manipulation." Sasuke growled.

The picture was becoming strikingly clear in Itachi's mind. His biggest misstep had been not allowing for Sasuke to make his own choices. His little brother's instinct had been right. Consistently. He'd tried to make the most right choice on a road full of bad choices that was entirely his own fault Sasuke was walking. Sasuke'd picked the right people to look towards, the right person to love. But because of the road Itachi had pushed him down, because of the way things progressed and the timing of the aftermath of their battle, Sasuke had been left open to the last person Itachi wanted near him. And Tobi had forced Sasuke onto the most hateful and destructive path possible, knowing first hand how Uchiha loved and how poorly they handled loss. And even once he learned the truth, that Sakura was alive…he'd taken a page out of Itachi's book. Stayed close to the danger to try and protect her from it. But none of that absolved his hatred of Konoha, and given that Konoha had apparently made Sakura's life hard as well, Sasuke had been able to hold and rationalize his hatred. What a confusing path for his brother to be traversing.

"Why did you take my eyes?" Itachi asked after a long moment.

"Was that not a part of your manipulation as well?"

"It was…though I imagine your motivation was different then the one I had assumed."

"I didn't take them right away. I didn't think I had the right, since I'd be going against your will with my aim to destroy Konoha."

"What changed?"

"She was alive. I'll protect her. I thought that was something you'd approve of."

Itachi chuckled a little. "No…signposts were definitely not your only guide." He said, thinking of Naruto and Sakura. "Properly speaking, I am a dead man. This is a cursed jutsu, and I must put an end to it. I'm sorry Sasuke, but I don't have time to dawdle." Itachi sped up. He'd slowed too much to allow time to speak with his brother, but there was much he had to do.

Sasuke was having none of it, easily matching his pace. "When you were alive, you never paid any attention to me, always poking me in my forehead and running off. And now, even returned from the dead, you still run from me?!" Sasuke shouted. He was just so angry. He loved his brother so much…he had forgotten how frustrating and distant Itachi could be. His brother also sucked at explaining himself…in all fairness though, it wasn't like he was particularly good at explaining his feelings either.

Itachi knew he was running low on time. The longer the edotensei was active, the longer the war would go, the more casualties to the allied forces. After all, the dead couldn't die, and the living could.

Sasuke continued on his tail, and it wouldn't do. He was nearing Kabuto's location. He didn't want Sasuke's desire to speak with him to cause Sasuke to interfere with him ending the jutsu.

"Summoning jutsu! You stay here." A murder of crows flew at Sasuke, getting in his way and slowing him down, as Itachi reached Kabuto's location. It was time to put an end to this.

---

The crows slowed him down, but Sasuke had no intention of allowing them to stop him. He pushed forward, through the woods until he reached a cave. He didn't even consider slowing down, running straight in, and catching his brother a little ways ahead of him. Itachi wasn't getting out of this talk that easily. Sasuke sped up.

---

Sakura was dodging for her life, flitting between giant monster claws, and flying rocks to reach Naruto, Kakashi, and Gai for seconds of healing, only to leap away to whoever was next injured. It was healing like she'd never performed before, closer to combat than she'd ever gotten without engaging, performing medical ninjutsu with higher efficiency than she ever thought possible. And it needed to be that efficient. She didn't have the chakra to support any less than that level of efficiency. Her daily use reserve was low—she had less than fifteen percent of her chakra left.

She dodged away from a swipe of the giant monster's arm, flipping back and landing behind Naruto on the eight-tail's head.

"You alright Naruto?"

"I'm okay! Just low on chakra, but Kurama and I are on it! You good?"

"I'm running low, but I'll be alright!"

"It's rough though, he's not letting us get close and nothing seems to really hurt that tailed-beast suckin' monster!"

"I know…I wanna try provoking him a bit more—see if I can get him to slip up and reveal who he really is—but I doubt I can even yell loud enough to get him to hear me, with all the rocks shattering." Sakura let out a tired huff.

"We're not getting anywhere like this…but I don't know what the new plan could possibly be. We can't get to Tobi through that thing, and that thing absorbed the power of seven of nine tailed beasts. Two tailed beasts and four shinobi, one of whom is strictly functioning as a healer, simply don't have the destructive power necessary to blow past that thing."

"If it were standing upright, I'd say to aim for the legs and make the goal to bring it down, but it's not standing…this guy's so annoying shannaro!"

"Sakura-chan, remember during our first time taking the bell test, your reason for going after the bastard?"

"Uh…yeah? He would have been a distraction to Kakashi-sensei. So I may have been able to grab the bells while he was distracted."

"Right…So if we distract the big monster thing, think you could get to Tobi?"

"Even If I did…I can't do any damage at the moment. You sure you don't wanna be the one to go?"

"Eh…you're the one who's better at getting information. And I'd love to know what this asshole's deal is."

"Heh. Fair enough. Let's do it! Keep its arms busy for me!"

"Hell yeah! One distraction coming up!"

Naruto and Sakura both launched towards the giant monster, which immediately swiped at them. Midair, Sakura brought her knees to her chest, and Naruto basketed his hands, catching Sakura and boosting her higher. Sakura landed on the arm of the monster and ran up it towards it's ugly multi-eyed face. When she reached the shoulder junction, she leapt up onto the things head where Tobi was standing.

He immediately threw a kunai at her as soon as she landed, but she danced out of the way.

"Don't think you'll catch me off guard again, Miss Medic. I know you can throw quite the punch now…you don't really think I'll give you another chance do you?"

"I'm not looking for another chance. When I want to punch you, I'll make my own opening." Sakura answered confidently. "I'm just here to talk."

"And what would I have to talk about with you?" Tobi asked with the tone of a raised eyebrow.

"That's a new mask. Two eye holes this time. So is that rinnegan new, or have you had it the whole time, but can't deactivate it since its not natural to your body? It be a waste of chakra to have it out all the time when you're not making use of it." Sakura reasoned.

"So you came all the way up here to ask me about my mask? Can't blame you, it is pretty cool, yeah?" He sounded painfully casual, almost bored, as if the idea of the world ending truly had no effect on him.

"This level of indifference…"

"You really don't care at all…" Sakura locked eyes with him defiantly. "Alright, Uchiha Tobi, you wanna play around? Game on. So tell me, this pressing need to wipe out the world didn't come from nowhere. After all, the mangekyo requires strong emotions to awaken. So. Who'd you lose? Had to be more than just a comrade…more than just a friend…the girl you loved? Would that be enough though? Or did you need to feel a sense of betrayal as well? Like a trusted comrade being the one to stab her through the heart?"

Tobi froze.

"So…am I close?"

This girl had to die. And she was dumb enough to be making direct eye contact with his sharingan.

Sakura felt the genjutsu wash over her. It was stronger than Kakashi's, but not unfamiliar enough. She laughed, breaking it within a second. "Sorry Tobi. Even a sharingan's genjutsu can't hold me. Either brave attempting to fight me close range, or burn through your chakra with ninjutsu."

"…Did I go insane? What the hell am I daring him for?! When did I get this cocky?!"

"This is fuckin' awesome! We rule! Shannaro!"

Tobi growled. Who was this brat that she could easily recognize and break a sharingan enhanced genjutsu?!

"Well, since we've gone with this energy, may as well double down."

"I'll take your sudden aggression as a yes. So…what was her name?"

A wall of flame came racing toward her.

"Aaaannnddd that was as far as I could push my luck. But he reacted to the major beats of Kakashi-sensei's story."

Sakura flipped off the monstrosity's head, the fire's heat prickling her skin as she dropped back down onto the monster's arm and raced back towards her comrades. She skidded to a stop when Tobi appeared in front of her, but before he could make a move against her, both Kakashi and Naruto came at him, rasengan swirling and chidori chirping. He dodged before either had a chance to make contact.

"What the hell did you do?" Kakashi admonished, landing in front of her.

"Operation Provoke the Asshole was a success, huh Sakura-chan!" Naruto laughed, landing next to Kakashi.

"Provoke him?!"

"So didja learn anything?" Naruto asked.

"I think so…listen, Kakashi-sensei, I think he's—"

Another attack from the monster forced them apart before she could tell their sensei that she was ninety percent certain that their enemy was his former teammate, Uchiha Obito.

---

Sasuke stared at Kabuto, snake-like and stuck in the Izanami, trapped in a loop for as long as he chose to continue fighting instead of accepting and forgiving his true self.

"Why Nii-san? Why cast this on Kabuto? He could still escape."

"He reminds me of the old me." Itachi answered, looking sadly at the man who'd lost himself so much he'd become unrecognizable. "I thought I could accomplish anything. I thought I was unstoppable. I stopped listening to anyone else. I stopped trusting anyone. Kabuto is so deluded that he thinks all these powers are his and his alone. I understand him all too well…the shinobi world has made us both victims of our own egos. He can't forgive himself for what he's done because he can't see himself for who and what he truly is. What he is doing is certainly wrong. But he's not completely to blame for his not realizing that. I lost my chance, but he can still forgive himself before he dies."

"Nii-san, why would you ever feel the need to help him do that? He's not like you! You were perfect!" Sasuke shouted. His perfect brother who he'd always lived in the shadow of. His perfect brother who his own father had told him to be more like. His perfect brother who had done what he could to be just in an unjust situation, sparing his life. His perfect brother who gave everything for a village that didn't respect or honor him.

"Sasuke. I tired to control you with the ocular jutsu Koto'amatsukami. I treated you like a child. I thought you needed my protection and guidance. I didn't trust your strength, intelligence, or heart." Itachi sighed. How many mistakes he'd made. Truly stupid mistakes too. Even thinking back on Sasuke as a child. He was warm. He worked hard. He valued fairness and had a just heart. He'd been protective of those he loved and those he saw as weaker. And he sought others. He sought connection. Especially from Itachi, but with others as well. Their mother, their father. The aunty and uncle who ran the senbei shop. He hadn't hung out often with the other village children as a young child, but when he did, he'd been kind towards them. Even after what Itachi had done, based on Sakura's love for him alone, and the one time he'd seen them together in the inn, that kindness and protectiveness hadn't left, just grown more hidden. At his core, his heart was still fair and just, though it had been corrupted, lead astray, and misguided—only seeing the extremes. In his refusal to initially take Itachi's eyes, there'd been honor and respect for him. And in his choice to finally take them, it was to protect his most precious person, a motivation he thought Itachi would approve of. And he was right. Itachi did approve. His manipulations had forced his brother to take only the worst paths forward, and despite those shadowy hate-soaked paths, Sasuke—the real Sasuke held fast to his bonds, even if he had to delude, lie, and change the nature of those bonds in his mind in order to hold them fast. Naruto had become his ultimate opponent, because he couldn't simply cut the bond and let his best friend go, but opponent was all the dark path he'd been placed on allowed for. Sakura remained his most precious person, but on the dark path he was walking, he had to hold that connection at a distance. Sasuke had tried so hard, to maintain what he could of the best of himself. If he hadn't set his little brother on this destructive, hate-filled path…if Tobi hadn't gotten to his little brother before Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke would have become an incredible person. A truly good person. The lost, dark boy he was looking at was the embodiment of all his mistakes. If only he had trusted Sasuke, trusted those Sasuke would choose to surround himself with, and actually talked to him, not encouraged his hate, not pushed him to power at all costs, to be a murderer…

"It may be that a singular perfect being doesn't exist in this world at all. It may require more than one, to balance each other…a duo or trio working together…only then could they actually succeed. Only then, working together could they reach perfection. Like the Izanami and Izanagi." Itachi met Sasuke's pained, lost, eyes. Eyes that once belonged to him. He'd never worn that expression. Never worn a look that deeply sought to connect despite all the hurt. When he'd worn those eyes, they only ever looked distant, even with Izumi, Shisui, and Sasuke…those he cared for and loved the most…they never showed how deeply he wished to connect. His eyes had also never looked that lost. He'd been too sure and convinced of his actions to allow for that expression.

"Look at me, Sasuke. Find in yourself what I was unable to find in myself. Do not say I was perfect. First, I should've acknowledged and appreciated myself. If I'd done that, I would have never had to lie and be distant from anyone…not to you, and not to myself. If you lie to yourself, how can you have friends? How can you trust or be trustworthy? So many lies will keep you from ever seeing your true self…they kept me from seeing mine."

Sasuke didn't blink. Didn't look away from him. His gaze was unwavering. What direction would his dear little brother go now?

But he had a mission. He was wasting time. The edotensei had been going on long enough. He had to end it, for Naruto, and Sakura, and the allied forces. "I shall now stop the edotensei jutsu." Itachi turned back to Kabuto, held in place by the Izanami, and touched his glasses. "All the edotensei shinobi will be gone." He murmured, removing the glasses from Kabuto's face. "That should end the war."

"…But you'll be gone too." Sasuke said. His voice sounded tight.

"I'll have protected my village. I'm once more Uchiha Itachi of Konoha. I have no more regrets."

"But why?" Sasuke growled. "I don't understand! Why would you help the very village that put you where you are now?! You may forgive that place, but I don't know how I can!" The muddy hatred felt like it was boiling through him at the mere thought of the village that forced them into where they were now. Anger made the boiling all the faster, at the fact that Itachi was ready to leave just like that. That Itachi was leaving him. Again. After he just got his brother back. "You have no more regrets? What about what you've made me become?!" He was shouting, using his whole air supply to say those words. Once upon a time, Sakura had told his brother that she refused to respect someone who psychologically tortured their eight-year-old brother. That torture was what had started him down this ugly, muddy, shadowy path. Did Itachi really not regret that at all?

"I made a mistake. A huge one. I'm not perfect. But a regret is something you think you could change or fix if only you had more time. You're not my regret Sasuke, because I am not the one who can change you. You know the two that can. What I can do, is lift this jutsu. That will fulfill my promise to them at least." Itachi covered Kabuto's eyes and opened them, catching him in his genjutsu.

Sasuke watched as Kabuto began forming the seals to release the jutsu…soon his brother would be gone. After he just got him back. After he began remembering what it was like to stand beside his brother. To adore him. He was going to lose him. Again.

"I guess…it won't matter what I say, will it?"

Itachi didn't answer.

"As soon as I saw you, I tailed you because I wanted to confirm the truth of what Tobi and Danzo had said. But that wasn't the only thing I was able to verify. When I'm with you, I remember things…the feelings I had as a child of adoring my nii-san. That's why…the closer we get to how we were before as brothers, and the more I understand you…the more what they did to you hurts…the more the path they forced you onto, that you then forced me onto…the more what they did hurts. And even before that…the systems the village had in place made Sakura's life a constant struggle…they made it impossible to help her mother…all Konoha does is cause pain! And I hate it! I hate that place so much for all the pain it's caused! I hate it more than ever! I know what you want me to do, how you want me to be. You're my big brother, so you're going to disapprove! But it's because you're my brother that no matter what you say, you're not going to stop me! Even if you're protecting the village now, I'm going to destroy it someday."

Itachi was silent for a second before shaking his head. "I won't make the same mistake of not trusting you again. Sasuke, before I—"

Kabuto finished the seals, and the edotensei released.

Itachi felt the energy tying him to this plain relinquishing its hold on him. He began to crack, pieces of himself ascending, making him slowly disintegrate. He was slowly losing consciousness.

"I need to tell you everything before I finally say goodbye. No lies anymore. That night I left you, I did everything Danzo and Tobi have told you. I'll show you the entire truth." His sharingan spun to life, capturing Sasuke in his jutsu and laying his closely held memories bare:

Shisui removing his left eye and entrusting it to him, before jumping off a cliff.

Facing the elders as they so easily spoke of condemning all Uchiha as traitors and planning counter measures.

Danzo meeting with him separately and laying out the ultimatum—have Konoha kill the Uchiha clan, which Sasuke would witness and grow up with a vengeful heart aimed at Konoha, making him an enemy to ultimately be eliminated too. Or he could take the responsibility of eliminating the Uchiha himself, and spare his little brother. It was issued as a mission.

Confronting Tobi outside the village, and drafting his aid for the massacre.

Using his Tsukuyomi on Izumi, tricking her into living out their whole life together in a matter of seconds, as she withered in his arms, dying of old age at the young age of fourteen.

Seeing Sasuke running home, late after a long day of training.

Facing their parents…Fugaku and Mikoto sat, kneeling in their bedroom, facing away from them.

"I see…so you've aligned with the other side, eh…" Fugaku sighed.

"Father…mother…I…"

"We know already, Itachi-kun. It's alright. We understand." Mikoto said, her voice as patient and gentle as always.

"Itachi…just promise us this." Fugaku said. "Take care of Sasuke."

He couldn't hold back his tears any longer. "I will…" he promised. His hand was shaking around his sword. That had never happened before.

"Don't be scared Itachi-kun." Mikoto said.

"Your mother's right. Don't fear it…you chose this path, right? Compared to you, our pain will be over in an instant…" Fugaku said. "Even if our philosophies differ, I am still proud of you. You are a truly considerate child." There was no doubt in his tone.

"We love you." There was no doubt in her tone either.

It made it hurt more.

And then he killed them, with his trembling sword. And half a second later, Sasuke pushed open the door.

"I've…always lied to you and asked you to forgive me…deliberately keeping you at a distance by my own hand…because…I didn't want you to get caught up in any of this…but now…I see my mistake. I should have trusted you…perhaps you could have changed father and mother…and the rest of the Uchiha. If I had only come to you from the start…looked straight into your eyes, and told you the truth…I've made my mistakes, and telling you this now is too late. It won't sink in…but I want to impart at least this much truth to you…you don't ever have to forgive me…and no matter what you do from here on out know this…" Itachi finally reached Sasuke, his hand wrapping around the back of his little brother's head and touching their foreheads together, looking Sasuke dead in the eyes. "I will love you always."

Itachi's spirit ascended, the body he'd been occupying crumbling…and Sasuke was standing in the cave alone and reeling.

---

Sakura hadn't gotten the chance to rejoin with her sensei to tell him what she thought. They were all too busy fighting the monster—apparently called the Gedo statue. She managed to force herself to speed up her chakra production, but she was using it almost as quickly as she produced it. The fight had grown so intense that the seconds she had for healing before had dropped to milliseconds. She had to constantly be on the move to avoid getting hit by anything. And her awareness and focus were so high that she couldn't find a moment to explain her theory to Kakashi, Naruto, and Gai. In a way though, it wasn't unfamiliar.

"It's just shishou's evasion exercise…ratcheted up to a thousand…"

She could practically hear Tsuanade in her head telling her that they would keep going with this until she successfully evaded for twelve hours straight. But she wouldn't even need that long. 7 hours. 7 hours, and the seal would be complete. 7 hours and it wouldn't matter if an attack hit her. 7 hours and there'd be no risk of dying in combat.

Kakashi shoved his chidori into one giant hand. "Gai!" He called.

"Already on it!" Gai shouted, his foot slamming into the pinkie of the hand and completely shattering it.

The Gedo statue roared, but it was interrupted by the eight tails uppercutting it hard.

Tobi growled quietly, jumping up onto one of the massive arms of the statue, Naruto landed a little ways away from him, surrounded again by nine-tails energy and smirking triumphantly.

"Heh! You don't look too happy!" Naruto shouted.

"What do you mean?" Tobi said with forced calm.

"Well, you hide your face. So I can only guess. But if you're really calm, then why don't you take that stupid mask off and prove it!" He knew Sakura had a theory but she hadn't had the chance to share with how close this fight had been, so he figured he may as well just cut to the chase and prove her right.

Kakashi landed to Naruto's right and sighed. "Would you two stop provoking him?"

"Nice going Naruto!" Gai encouraged.

Tobi's eyes narrowed, his hands coming together in a seal. A jar and gourd poofed into existence next to him. "Oh well, I'm going to have to do it. I would have preferred resurrecting it in a completed state, but…"

The Gedo statue tossed the jar into its mouth, its jaws snapping shut.

"It is only a fragment. But it is not lacking in power." The Gedo statue let out an earth shaking roar. "It's time!"

The Gedo statue let out another roar and reared up, the terrain crumbling around the force of the monster's energy.

"That statue's acting different…" Gai muttered. Whatever was going on, swallowing those objects had been bad.

Naruto twitched. "That's…" he felt tied to that statue for some reason…and he was certain. In the jar it had swallowed…he thought he sensed…

"Don't tell me…" Kakashi gasped, Tobi's statement about "resurrecting it in a complete state" echoed through his head. He had a very bad feeling about this.

Sakura was the only one lacking any notable reaction, her eyes trained not he monster in front of them. It was the first time in hours she had the chance to tell Kakashi that she was nearly certain it was Obito behind the mask, but this new problem at hand had shelved that fact.

"It doesn't really change anything though. No matter what that thing is, the game hasn't changed. Don't get hit. Keep your comrades alive. Outlast for seven more hours. No matter what that thing is or what it means, the game plan's still the same."

"Watch closely…and feel it in your skin. The return of Ten Tails! And the beginning of the end of the world!"

---

Author's Note: Okay. So as it turns out, Sakura was not canonically on the war front for a loooooong time, so that was major change number one-adding her into the war front. It doesn't change much as far as what's happening. All of the canon fights still happen. But it keeps her in the informational loop, allows her and Naruto to really be doing this together, and kinda puts her on a level of an equally important figure/rallying point for the allied forces. She is piecing together Obito's identity, but it's not fully confirmed, and while she is more willing to share without fully knowing the answer, they are actively in combat with a supremely dangerous enemy and she has not been able to relay the information in that chaos. She got her talk with Itachi finally and if fully caught up on the situation! Yay! I cut away from the Kabuto fight cause it was annoying and ultimately nothing was really gonna be different, but I did want Sasuke and Itachi's conversations because they're both just a little bit different, because of Sakura's influence. For one, Itachi actually includes her in those who have an effect on Sasuke-he doesn't only place value on Naruto's relationship to Sasuke, but on Sakura's as well. For another, I think getting Itachi's full view on his brother and what he's done to him is really important. Cause yeah looking back on it, within this story, but even within canon, for as dark and lost and fucked up as Sasuke gets, he does truly seem to constantly be attempting to make the best choice he can when faced with a slew of bad choices. It's not an excuse-he by no means makes the right choice. But it does show a strength of character and honor that implies that had he not been manipulated and pushed in all the wrong directions, Sasuke would have probably been a pretty great guy. And in this version, with the curse of hatred being more of an actual curse, and not just a term for an ongoing internal struggle, the fact that Sasuke does uphold this honor code and make the best of the bad choices, it really does show how actively he's fighting the hatred. And this is following the same pattern as Naruto and Gaara's battle. Sakura's love and kindness rattles the darkness and gives something of a beacon and some clarity, but they need the hatred sort of physically broken out of them to fully allow that to change them. Which is where Naruto and his confrontational goodness comes in. I also added Mikoto just, speaking more in Itachi's flashback, just to give the parental relationships more balance.

Thank you so much for your patience! I truly forgot how long the war arc is and how much happens in it. Thank you for reading this far! :)