Part II

She woke again only this time to light. It was too bright. It also caused her to see Naruto's worried face. She immediately closed her eyes. Naruto looking at her like that could only mean she had fucked up again.

"Sakura?" It was quiet, gentle, yet urgent and anxious. "Oh, Sakura." She opened her eyes if only to prevent Naruto from sobbing for her. Her entire body hurt. She began the process of healing herself again.

Her skin was charred, her throat sore and her jaw bruised. Her thick numb tongue poked around inside her mouth and she realized she was missing one of her molars.

Naruto had taken one of her hands and was stroking it, being careful to avoid her burns. "I shouldn't have let this happen to you," he said thickly. "I can't... forgive myself..." He was about to fall to pieces.

"I'm okay," she said in a raspy voice, quick to reassure him. She was fine. She was wonderful.

Naruto looked up at her with red rimmed eyes. "No, you're not," he said darkly. It almost startled her, and she didn't know what to say. He must have known she wasn't dying. It was just a few scrapes. She would be good as new in a day and a half if she continued healing herself.

The hospital room door burst open. "You're awake," Ino stated, dressed for work. There was an awkward silence. Ino and Naruto had always been awkward with each other, like neither one of them knew how to share their friendship with Sakura. She could tell Ino wanted Naruto to leave, but there was no way of moving the Hokage, as he was too busy staring dully at her hand. "What happened?" Ino finally asked. It was a question Naruto probably should have asked already.

Sakura swallowed, trying to wet her mouth. "It was the light switch. I... it should be removed. Light sticks will have to be used moving forward, annoying as it is."

Naruto was shaking his head in despair.

"I won't let it happen again," she reassured.

"You won't let it happen again." Naruto tightened his grip on her hand. "You won't go back to him."

Sakura glared at him. "And who's going to look after him!?"

"Anyone else!" Naruto shouted. Ino flinched but Sakura was not affected.

"And have someone killed?! I can survive any injury and know him better than anyone! The only other person who could possibly be capable of that task is you, but you don't have time for it. We need you to focus on running the village! You shouldn't even be here! You're wasting time! I'm fine! There's nothing to see here."

"He raped you!" Naruto got up from his chair, threw her hand back at her, and began pacing around the room. Ino took a step back away from him. "He hurt you."

"So what? What's the worst that can happen? I'm pregnant? I'll heal from it, like anything else. I'm a ninja of the Leaf." Naruto stared at her with his heartbreaking blue eyes.

Ino cleared her throat. "Lord Eighth," Naruto turned his head to Ino like he forgot she had been there. There were dark circles around his eyes. "Perhaps it's best if you step outside for a moment. I'm sure there are other things you should be doing. I'll take care of her."

Naruto did a quick nod and left. Ino sat in the chair that Naruto had been, giving Sakura a hard stare. "You're not pregnant," she said.

"How do you know?"

"I gave you an emergency contraceptive."

"Why?!"

"Um... because you were raped?" Ino said sarcastically. "Sakura. I don't know what you think Sasuke is, but he doesn't give a shit about you."

Sakura steeled her gaze at her. "I never said any of the sort."

"What the fuck have you been doing there at the prison with him?"

"Monitoring his condition!"

"Naruto says nothing's changed."

"Well someone has to confirm it."

"And what happened yesterday? Something has changed."

"And I was there to confirm it!"

"Good. Now he's good enough to be put to death!"

Sakura's heart started to beat faster. She hadn't thought of that. She hadn't thought of that at all. She was still high on Sasuke's violent touch. The punch to her face was better than any kiss he could have given her. The pain in her jaw lasted a lot longer than a fleeting touch of lips. In fact, she was prolonging from healing it, just so she could feel the throb.

"Do you still have feelings for him?"

"I-"

"Did you let this happen to you?"

"No, it was random. I didn't-"

"We're you trying to have his child?"

"No, I was just saying," she snapped, tired of Ino interrupting her. "That I could bare it. It wasn't on purpose. That silly guard that was there was a witness. Sasuke attacked me. I had called for help. I was just saying I wouldn't mind a child. You know just in general. You didn't have the right to give me that contraceptive without my consent."

Ino glared at her. "You can't. You can't have a child. It's forbidden."

"I would have retired. It doesn't matter to me. I don't care."

"If you want a child so badly, you could have it with anyone else! Sakura, Sasuke is a fucking psychopath."

Sakura was no longer keeping eye contact with her.

"He's an Uchiha! They all are!"

"No, they're not!"

"I know what the fuck's going on here Sakura! You've forgiven him! You've forgiven him for raping you. You've forgiven him for punching you in the face, for destroying other people's villages and families, for changing the Hokage to what he is. You've forgiven him for all his murder and destruction, and you always will, no matter what the fuck he does! Are you really going to let this obsession destroy you? You survived all these years with it and now you're fucking it up! You can't see him anymore. He must die as soon as possible. It's the only way you will get over it."

"What are you talking about? I had a crush on Sasuke when I was twelve, so what? I was a stupid kid. It wasn't real. None of this has anything to do with any sort of feelings for him. I need to prove to everyone that I can work, because for some reason both you and Naruto think I can't! That's why I'm doing this. And I don't know why the two of you are always so concerned about my "emotional health". Naruto, I can understand since he's obviously desperately in love with me, but what do you care? Are you in love with me too? Is that why you don't ever fuck men?"

Ino slapped Sakura in the face. "Because I'm your fucking friend bitch!" Sakura was quiet. Ino's face was bright red, but she didn't cry. She wouldn't cry. "You wanna fucking kill yourself over this, then fine, but you're not putting the village in danger. You're not going back to see him."

"Bring Naruto back. It will be his decision."

"No. If I let you talk to him again, he'll cave. I know he will. You have his dick wrapped around your selfish, little finger. No. You're staying here, and you're not leaving."

"You can't keep me here against my will!"

"Yes, I can!"

Sakura wouldn't stand for it and Ino couldn't physically keep Sakura in the bed, as Sakura was much stronger than her. She proclaimed she was taking this up with the Hokage, if Ino wanted her to or not, Ino close at her heels to argue her point.

Naruto hadn't gotten very far from the hospital room and was at a complete loss on what to do with two women screaming at him. He was able to usher them in an abandoned room that luckily had a door. After he closed the door, he took a deep breath before turning to the two crazy females behind him "What's the matter?"

"She needs to be detained!" Ino shouted before Sakura could say anything. "I suspect that she's conspiring with the enemy!"

"What?!" Sakura gasped.

Ino ignored her, staring pleadingly at Naruto. "You know how she feels about Sasuke. You know."

Naruto swallowed. He did know. "What did she do?"

"Nothing!" Sakura defended herself. "What could I possibly be 'conspiring' about?"

"You plan on saving his life!"

"I've already saved his life! It's my job. If you're talking about helping him escape, why wouldn't I have set him free already?"

"Because you haven't thought you could yet. You were bideing your time."'

"This is ridiculous. Where's your proof!"

"She's right" Naruto suddenly said, turning to Ino. "Where is your proof? Sakura would never turn against her own village." Ino saw the triumph in Sakura's face. It was too late. Naruto had already sided with Sakura.

"She was saying I couldn't leave the hospital either," Sakura tattled. "I'm pretty much completely healed already." It was true. During the argument, Sakura had been awake and healed most of her burned skin. The bruise on her face was even gone, much to her own disappointment.

Naruto lifted his hand, thumbing the spot on the corner of her mouth where the bruise had been. "I guess."

"And I should be able to go back to work."

"Sakura..." Naruto heaved a breath. "No." Ino sighed in relief. Naruto wasn't completely under Sakura's thumb. "You can't. Besides. You won't be needed for much longer. The Kage and I have scheduled a meeting. Sasuke's trial will be next week. You... You shouldn't go."

The argument had been settled with Sakura ending it with a graceful, stubborn, "Fine," that left Ino suspicious and Naruto falling furthering into himself. "If that's the way you feel, then fine. You're the Hokage." She then turned to go, walking out of the room. She asked around for some clothes she could borrow from the nurses, after which she changed out of her hospital gown. Then obtaining the remainder of her things that had survived the attack, she left the hospital with all her dignity still intact, no one stopping her.

Once she was out of eyesight from anyone though, she broke into a panicked run, heading straight to the prison. She wasn't sure how many days she had been in the hospital. It couldn't have been more than 24 hours, she concluded. She wasn't badly hurt, and as soon as she was conscious she healed quickly. She didn't know how long she had been locked in Sasuke's cell. She didn't think that could be more than a few hours, if even that. That stupid guard may have abandoned her, but he couldn't have ignored the situation completely. He must have had run to have gotten help. Otherwise she'd still be in the cell.

Arriving at the prison she discovered that her badge and key still worked. When she started to come across the other people that worked there, they were surprised, but seemed too shock to question her presence. They had to have known what had happened. She strolled down the hall with purpose, ordering people around and asking questions. What had been done with the prisoners while she was out? What was being done about preventing further accidents? Did everyone follow these new procedures? No one was allowed to be alone anywhere in the prison, especially with the prisoners. As for Sasuke Uchiha, his cell was off limits to everyone unless they had direct permission from the Hokage.

She wrote what she heard on a clipboard, acting like she was only testing their knowledge. "And the light switch?" she inquired. The young man was her current victim. He seemed to be too tactless to know how to escape her.

"The light switch?"

She glared her diamond hard eyes at him. "The light switch. The electricity. That's how Sasuke Uchiha obtained chakra to perform Chidori!"

"Oh. I didn't know. I just figured he was like..." The kid didn't get to finish his thought for Sakura was already on the move. He had hurried after her, saying something about keeping to the buddy system, but once she started to get closer to where Sasuke stayed, he seemed to have had conveniently lost her.

She charged to the door of Sasuke's cell, the two guards there standing at attention when she arrived. They did a double take when they realized who she was. The boy that had left her to Sasuke the other day was nowhere to be found. She wasn't surprised. He must have been fired since.

"What the fuck's going on here?!" she declared. They both stared at her blankly. "That light switch still has power. Do you realize how dangerous it is to leave Sasuke Uchiha with a power source?!"

"We-we didn't realize... Is it working?"

"Yes, I've just been told that the power to this light switch was never turned off. We must do so as soon as possible." The room that they were in now was in fact dark. Sakura patiently explained that there had been a misunderstanding, and while all electrical light had been removed in the room that they were standing in, the light switch that led to the light in Sasuke's cell, and the most dangerous, had been left.

She made the two men take apart the light switch, holding up their light sticks for them so they could see. "You just need to clip the wires," she explained.

The one holding the pair of clippers she had given him hesitated. "Shouldn't we turn off the breaker before we clip any wires?"

"Nonsense. There's no time to locate the correct breaker. Besides you just have to trip the wire." Neither of them seemed to know what she was talking about. "See? Do you see that blue one just right over there?" The both of them peered at the wiry mess in the wall, noses almost touching as they tried to see the blue one. There wasn't a blue one.

Sakura knocked them both in the back of the head, hard, catching them before they hit the ground. Once they were out on the floor before her, she took their keys, and hurriedly unlocked the cell to Sasuke's door.

She had to be quick before anyone noticed that the guards had been taken out. She would only be a moment. She just had to see him.

She closed the cell door behind her, shining her light stick through the dark stuffy air. "S-Sasuke?" She could barely see his form, upright, at the far end of the cell. "Sasuke, it's me."

He was sitting on the floor. The bed had been pushed out of reach of him. She shakily unlocked the door to let her get past his bars. She never thought, once, that she was afraid of him. She wasn't worried he would attack her. That wasn't what was making her taste the bile in the back of her throat or make her hands shake. She closed the bars behind her and stepped closer to him.

The chain wasn't attached to his wrist anymore. No, it was around his neck, attached to a cruel looking metal collar. He was wrapped up tightly in something, that she thought at once was a strait jacket with a chakra seal tag on it. They weren't taking any chances. It would have made sense. But no, something was off. He looked smaller.

"Oh, Sasuke!" she dropped her light stick onto the ground, her knees almost buckling. She managed to keep from falling to take the last hasty steps to him.

They had removed his other arm.

Her hands fell onto him, stroking him, feeling him, or what was left of him. She felt Sasuke flinch as she touched him, but he was awake, and she knew that he knew her.

The wound wasn't infected, but it hadn't been done a cleanly as she would have done it. All the blood vessels were closed, the flesh sewed tightly over the stump, but there were small delicate vein fibers of uneven lengths, like the tools they had been using weren't sharp enough. That didn't make sense since the prison had the money for excellent tools. Then she realized what must have happened. They had done it while he had been awake, or at least only drugged enough where he would have still been able to feel it. The pain he would have felt, even if mostly paralyzed at the time, would have been enough to have him flinch, enough for him to have moved the smallest of movements that would have prevented a perfect clean cut that one would have gotten from a truly sedated patient.

Why?

The only reason she could think was to make sure he could feel it. Apparently, the stunt that Sasuke had pulled with the light switch hadn't scared everyone enough to think he was too dangerous to do an operation on him while he was awake. On further inspection, she realized to her horror that they had also castrated him.

Did Naruto order this? It seemed too cruel to have been done by him, but at the same time, Naruto would have cared the most of what had happened to her.

"I'm so sorry Sasuke," she felt the hot tears fall from her cheeks. This was her fault. She had let this happen to him. She should have prevented this. She pulled Sasuke's head to her chest, cradling him as she sobbed. He leaned his weight on her.

In her mind, she thought he did not deserve this. Yes, he tried to escape, but who wouldn't in his position? Other prisoners had tried to escape in the past, but Naruto had never ordered to have their body parts removed as punishment. And to cut off his...

Sakura pulled back, sniffling, wiping the back of her hand across her face. Was it wrong for Sasuke to have sought her comfort in the dark? Was it really rape? It should have been. By all means, she would not have been allowed to give consent, but...

She bit her lip on the spot that had been split before she was forced to heal it. All this time, she had thought of Sasuke as different, as changed. He was still dangerous of course, unstable, unpredictable, but not the same. She hadn't thought he had gained any memory. Him trying to escape didn't mean he knew who he was.

She thought it even more impossible that Sasuke remembered who she was when he had taken her. It was completely primal instinct that made him do it. The original Sasuke wouldn't have taken the time. The original Sasuke would have just killed her.

But primal need didn't give the reason to why he had hit her so. Was he still trying to escape? Did he think she would try to detain him after their... whatever it was, was over?

Or did he know her? Did he remember everything? Did the thought of her cause him pain? Had he known who she was this entire time? It was only now she thought to be wary of him. She let go of him, but he was carrying his head on his own now.

"Th-the trial is next week. I didn't know if you knew... if anyone told you." Most likely not. No one thought he could communicate, and even less likely that anyone wanted to with him. "I... They won't let me see you anymore." She wondered if he would miss her. Unlikely.

She felt her eyes grow warm again. Another sob escaped her, and it was loud, filling her ears so much that she wasn't sure if she heard it.

"... annoying..."

Her sob disappeared in an instant, her throat cleared, and her eyes widened.

"What... what did you say?"

He hadn't moved. She couldn't tell if he had moved his lips at all. Had she imagined him speaking to her?

"Sasuke? What did you say? Say it again."

Silence answered her. She wiped her face with her hand. If Sasuke was in there, if he heard everything she said, tears would get her nowhere. She swallowed, wetting her dry mouth. "You know, that escape attempt you had made wasn't very thought out." She pushed herself up, bringing her mouth to his ear. "You could do better."

She heard a groan from the other side of the cell wall. Sasuke heard it too, his head cocking ever so slightly. One of the guards was starting to wake up.

"Shit," Sakura scrambled up, heading for the door. She turned hastily back to Sasuke. "I'll be back," she promised. "I'll see you again!"

She locked both doors to Sasuke's cage, replaced the keys to their rightful pockets, and began to heal the heads of the men before her. They immediately began to stir, their eyes fluttering.

"What... What happened?" asked one of them.

"You both touched a wire while the power was still on. I told you to trip it first."

"What?" asked the other one. "We were electrocuted?"

"Yes, but not bad. I'm healing you up now."

"Shit! The prisoner!" They both flew to their feet. Sakura let them, rolling her eyes as she saw them start to sway. "Don't move too quickly now. He's still there. See?" She had them peer through the small window in the door, Sasuke a pale blob in the dark, right where they had left him.

One of the guards shivered. "I'll be glad when he's gone."

For the rest of the week, Sakura attempted to behave like a normal part of society. She went to work at the hospital, she had dinner with her parents, she studied her books, and during her musing she would ask casual questions or just simply listen to the talk around.

The guard that had left her helpless in Sasuke's cell, turned out to be a young man from the Aburame clan. As she had expected, he had been fired. What she hadn't expected was that in his grief, Naruto had taken away the young man's rank and banished the poor boy from the village.

It was clear not all the village agreed with Naruto's decision. Yes, the Aburame had locked her in there, but with Sasuke at the time free, what other choice would he have had? Wouldn't it had been better to sacrifice one person than put in jeopardy the entire ninja village? It didn't help that most people did not care for her. It also didn't help that most people knew that Naruto did, and it was more so then a normal fellow citizen.

She had been avoiding Naruto so that he couldn't think she was up to anything. She wasn't. She had not seen Sasuke again. But she also didn't want him to see it on her face, how much it was affecting her. Four days went by before him seeing a trace of hide or hair of her. He most likely would not have noticed had it been anyone other than Sakura, with how busy he was, but he had noticed her missing presence.

On Wednesday, when she poked her head into his office, there was obvious relief in his face. He was happy to see her, happy to see her functioning.

"Sakura!" he exclaimed in surprise, surprised that she hadn't had a breakdown. "How are you doing?" He wasn't asking about her wounds. Those had healed days ago. It was her mental health.

"I'm concerned," she said.

Naruto's eyes moved away from hers. He knew about what. Anything Sakura had to say would be about Sasuke. He knew that. He knew that would be the case since Sasuke was first captured, but he didn't like having to deal with it. "Listen, Sakura, nothing different is happening without you being the one in charge down there. They're all following the same protocol that you would." Naruto did not know. He assumed she had been following all the rules all this time.

"I heard you banished the Aburame man."

"Yes," Naruto scratched the back of his head, turning it away from her to the window. "You think that was overkill, huh?"

"I've also heard that they removed Sasuke's other arm."

Naruto looked at her then. "Oh," was all he said, and she didn't believe he was focusing on her.

"Did you not know? Did you not give the orders?"

Naruto rubbed his face hard, as if trying to think. "They might have said something along the lines... that he had created a jutsu one handed. I agreed that something must be done. I didn't know what they were going to do, mind you, but I trusted them to use their best judgement."

"They also castrated him."

Naruto stared at her for three seconds. "What?"

"Did you give the orders?"

"No."

"But you agreed to all that was necessary. Was that necessary?"

Naruto stared at her hard, his eyes running over her from head to toe, remembering that Sasuke had been inside of her. "No," he finally said. "It wasn't necessary," but she could tell that he wasn't disagreeing with it. For a brief moment, she wondered if he could be lying to her. But no, Naruto never lied. He couldn't.

"People 'down there' are taking the liberty of making their own decisions. They don't like him, of course, so they're supplying needless torture whenever they have the opportunity. They did a terrible job with the operation."

"How do you know this?" Naruto suddenly asked.

Sakura's heart skipped one beat. "The talk. I told you that. I heard they kept him awake enough during the whole thing, so he would feel it. If your patient is not completely sedated during an operation, the muscles tighten and make it harder to cut, the blood pressure is higher, there is more bleeding-"

"Alright," Naruto sighed, lifting up his hand to stop her. "I'll look into the situation at the prison. It's not going to make much difference, Sakura. He only has two more days until the trial."

He paused, waiting.

She felt nothing. She gave him nothing.

He continued. "I'm not allowing you to go to him again, but I'll make sure his last two days are as painless as possible."

The trial that Sakura was not allowed to go to started late morning, and Ino was there to babysit her. Ino had claimed that they hadn't gone out to have fun in a while, but there was no hiding what this was.

As they walked to the outdoor market together, Sakura said so, not in the mood for pretending. "He can't speak, you know?" Or at least he wouldn't speak. She was sure he had spoken to her, but all accounts of everyone else claimed him a mute. "He can't say anything to defend himself. Naruto would be the only one trying to give him his fair say. There's no need for Sasuke to even be at his own trial. It shouldn't matter if I went. They should just keep him safe in the prison." She was afraid honestly, if they took Sasuke out of the safety of his cell, any number of people could get at him.

"'You don't think he needs to hear his own sentence?" Ino asked. "We know he knows what it's gonna be. Might as well let him hear the trial so he can see it was a fair one. I can't believe I'm saying this." Ino shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know or give a crap, but this is what Naruto wants, and he's the Hokage."

"We don't even know if Sasuke remembers what he did," she said sullenly. Oh, but she did know.

There was no way of knowing how long the trial would be, so Ino kept her out until midnight, doing her best to distract Sakura. She dressed Sakura up nice and took her out to the bars where the two of them practiced their flirtation and ghosting of men. She didn't know why this activity was so attractive to her, like she was achieving something precious. Was it because she thought rejecting all these people was proving something to Sasuke? If it was, she knew she was really messed up. She wondered why Ino had so much fun doing it.

Ino fell asleep on the floor of her place. She slept along with her for a few hours, but as soon as dawn broke out, she was out the door to find Naruto.

Naruto hadn't gone home that night. He was still sitting at his desk when she bombarded his door at 4:30 in the morning. He wasn't surprised to see her, but it was clear that he wished she wasn't there. He didn't question that she was wearing a crop top or that she smelled like cherry vodka. "Tell me," she said. "I have the right to know, and I rather hear it from you."

That took a little of the dead look out of Naruto's eyes, but it returned soon after as he answered. He spoke slowly, each sentence seemed to take all his breath. "The Kage have all agreed. Condemned to death. Lethal injection. Private execution." She knew. She knew that Naruto would do everything in his power to make Sasuke's death as peaceful as he could, but still with the sentence finally being said out loud, she felt all her joints detach from each other. She sat down on a chair, so she wouldn't fall.

"Tell me... Tell me what he looked like," she finally said.

"Well... there were eight guys holding him with charka bounds, and he had the seal on his chest. He was blind and armless but was standing and walking on his own. The way that he carried himself, it was him...He was in there."

Naruto could see it then too. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I knew he could hear me, and that he recognized me, and yet, it didn't seem like he hated me." Naruto's voice was thick with emotion. "I mean, I know, if he could, he wouldn't have a second thought of taking me down and killing me, but he didn't hate me. Despite everything he's done and said to me before, I don't think he's ever hated me." And Naruto had never hated him, which was plainly said without words.

"Did he speak?"

"No. But I knew anyway." He paused. "Has he spoken to you?"

"No." She shook her head. "He's either mute, or just stubborn, but he doesn't speak." Naruto nodded his head. "When will it be?"

Naruto swallowed. "Ah, two days from now, or tomorrow. I forgot how late it is. I have to go to the Land of Lighting to visit the Village Hidden in the Clouds today. The Raikage there refused to come to the trial. He wanted it to be held in his village."

"That makes zero sense."

Naruto looked at her with tired eyes. "I know. He seems to think his injustice by Sasuke is more than the other villages. I've told him that the trial has already happened, though I made it sound like it happened a lot earlier than it did. He still wants me to go over there to have a meeting. I need to convince him that everything is already said and done, and if he thinks he deserves anything more from me, he can make his demands."

"Wait, you said Sasuke's... You said it was tomorrow. If you go to the Hidden Cloud Village, you won't be back in time."

"I know," Naruto replied guiltily, staring at the floor. "Shikamaru will be in charge while I'm away."

"So, you're avoiding it," she said coldly.

"I can't keep the Raikage waiting. I didn't want to go over there until Sasuke was done being dealt with." The Raikage would have wanted a much more severe punishment. "Dealing with the Raikage's demands are going to take at least a week. It's better if he thinks Sasuke's already dead while making them. I can't delay's Sasuke's execution any more than I already have."

"So, you're running from it!"

"What choice do I have?"

"Delay it. Just until you come back."

Naruto looked at Sakura, startled. "Sakura, you know-"

"He's not going anywhere. The Raikage doesn't need to know that the execution hasn't happened yet. You're leaving before you see it completed anyway. Besides, I will need you. When it happens. Don't let me be all alone, knowing what is happening to him. Please."

They had been talking lowly to each other, conscious of how quiet the early morning was. Because of this, they had to lean close to each other to be heard. Naruto was looking bleak as she spoke.

"You're the only one who's ever really understood me, when it comes to him. When he's gone, when he's finally, actually, really gone, I don't think I'll be the same. A part of me will be gone." She took his hand. It was loose in her grip. "I'm afraid. Please. Be there for me. Keep me safe." They were so close to each other. They had always been close. The loss of Sasuke had brought them this close to each other, but at the same time it was the thing that had always kept them apart.

Naruto was tired. He was so tired. Or he would have noticed how close Sakura's mouth was to his. He would have stopped her before it brushed his.

The kiss was chaste, mostly because Sakura was surprised he hadn't pulled away those few inches. Naruto seemed equally surprised that he hadn't pulled away as well.

And then the hand that wasn't being held by Sakura was behind her head, bringing her closer. The kiss was warm, soft and wonderfully sweet, everything that she had rejected, and everything that Sasuke was not. For a startling second, Sakura almost thought she was in love with Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto abruptly stood up, so fast that Sakura almost fell off her seat. "Go," he said darkly.

Sakura touched her lips fearing that she had gone too far. She had fucked up.

"I will delay Sasuke's execution until after I return," he said. "But you need to leave right now."

She nodded her head quickly and scrambled out of the room.

Naruto tightened his rules up at the prison before he left, or rather made sure that Sakura would not have any more access. Her keycard no longer worked, and if she got too close to the building, the people gave her a suspicious gaze, as if watching to see if she were to try to break in.

The change of date to Sasuke's execution was never announced, but neither was the original date. And yet the people knew he wasn't dead yet. There was an uneasy tension throughout the entire village. When the Kage had come for the trial, many other people from other villages had come with them, hoping for a chance to see the downfall of Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto hadn't allowed many people to participate in the trial to most everyone's disgruntlement. Sakura was worried, without her supervision at the prison, if Sasuke was being well cared for, and without Naruto around, there was no one to enforce the law. With too many strangers in the village she knew she had to see Sasuke again.

Three days after Naruto had left, Sakura went to his house.

Hinata answered the door. She didn't say anything at first, and Sakura wondered if she knew of that kiss her and Naruto shared three days ago. "Sakura," she said uncertainly. Sakura had never gone to Naruto's house before. "Naruto's not here. He's gone to the hidden Cloud village."

"Yes, I know. That's why I've come to you. Maybe you could help me."

"Yes, of course. Please come in."

She followed Hinata into the house, staring at the back of her glossy black head. She realized she didn't know the wife of the Hokage. She hadn't known her for a long time. Hinata had retired ninja life to become a mother.

Hinata brought Sakura to the living room before she disappeared to make tea. As Sakura waited, she looked around the room of the many pictures of Naruto's family, with a mix of jealousy and dismay.

Hinata returned with the tea, setting it down on the little table before them and sitting across from Sakura. "Now, how can I help you?" she asked.

Sakura didn't know where to start. She didn't even know how much Hinata knew of the situation. Did the Hokage tell his wife everything? She certainly must know more than most. Naruto wouldn't have told Hinata about the kiss though, she tried to reassure herself. But it was also possible that Hinata knew of Naruto's feelings regardless. Naruto wasn't good at hiding them.

"I need access... to a certain prisoner."

"Sasuke Uchiha," Hinata answered. She did know. Sakura stared into Hinata's strange white eyes. One never truly retired from being a ninja.

"Mom!" Sakura's attention snapped down the hallway where a young boy with unruly blond hair stood. "Where's my red jacket?"

"It's in the wash, sweetie. Why don't you take your sister to the park today? You can wear your black jacket." The boy at first looked like he would argue, but after catching the gaze of his mother he quickly agreed and left to gather his sister.

Hinata turned back to Sakura. "My children," she addressed needlessly. They waited until the both of them had left before continuing the conversation.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Hinata started again. "And why do you need to see him?"

Sakura was again unsure on how to continue, not knowing how much Hinata knew. "Sasuke Uchiha's execution has been postponed until the return of your husband," Sakura stated, just now grabbing the tea so she could have something else to focus on rather than Hinata's eyes.

"I've been told."

"Most, if not practically all the village is unhappy with this decision."

"I've heard that as well," Hinata stated, carefully keeping her opinion out of her voice.

"I fear that while the Hokage is gone, some people may take advantage of his absence and try to harm the prisoner for their own interests."

This seemed to make Hinata a little more alarmed. "What makes you think that?"

In truth, nothing, she was just looking for an excuse to see him, but with Hinata's reaction she knew something must be wrong. "You know something," and it wasn't a question.

"I don't know anything. I just hear things." She almost sounded bitter as she sipped her tea and looked out the window. "The whole situation has been very hard on him... on Naruto. He doesn't like to talk about it and I don't like to make him talk about it." She turned to Sakura then, like that was somehow her fault. "I just want this to be over for him, but I..."

"What have you heard?" Sakura asked again, wanting to keep the conversation on track.

"The guard that was banished, was of the Aburame clan. Shino told me that he suspects that this man may not have wandered too far from the village. Before he left the village, Shino heard him talk about bringing down Uchiha himself, to prove that he wasn't a coward." Abandoning a woman to the terrible Sasuke Uchiha could not have looked favorable by anyone, no matter who the woman happened to be. " No one had taken him seriously, but no one really thought he deserved his banishment either. He had close friends at the prison."

"And you didn't tell any of this to Naruto?"

"It didn't seem to be a deep concern. Besides, I don't think anyone knew this was going to take this long." There was a pause.

"But now you're starting to hear the talk again."

Hinata touched her lip worriedly, shaking her head. "Sasuke," Hinata met Sakura's eye. Sakura was only vaguely aware on how the Byakugan worked. She was afraid how much Hinata could read her with just a glance. "He's a terrible person, and I hate him," she said coldly. "I hate him because of what he's done to Naruto. I don't care what happens to him. But still, the thing Shino described on what they had wanted to do to him, doesn't seem like anyone, no matter what they've done, deserves." Hinata got up. "I'll... help you see him. Just to check." She disappeared into what must have been a home office before returning with some documents.

"This will give you permission to enter the prison," she said, forging Naruto's signature with horrifying skill. "And this, gives Sasuke Uchiha permission to go through any treatment that may be required, if anything has happened to him."

Hinata hesitated in letting the papers go as she handed them to Sakura. "It may be better... just to put him out of his misery, if you have to. If that's the case, then all of this will finally be over."

Sakura thanked her. Then practically ran to the prison with her documents. Hinata hadn't told her what they had planned on doing to Sasuke, and she found that all the more terrifying.

Once she arrived she knew something was terribly wrong. The air was too thick, she could hardly breathe. She entered the building, shouting, demanding she be taken to Sasuke Uchiha, waving Naruto's signature like a flag. The staff were startled, reluctant, but she wasn't stopped. She couldn't be stopped. She pushed anyone out of her way that tried.

She thought she had smelled it when she first entered the building, a sickly retched stank enveloped her, that she first thought was the scent of her own fear. When she got to the bottom floor, it was impossible not to smell it. When she got to the door of Sasuke's cell, she was ready to perform murder.

The guards were startled to see her. Before she said anything, they jumped, looking like they wanted to run away. "What-what are you d-"

"What's that smell?!" she demanded.

"What?" the other asked in shock.

"Open this cell right now, by order of the Hokage."

"The Ho-"

"Right now!"

"You can't expect to go in there! Especially you. You know-" She grabbed him by the front of the shirt and flung him several feet where he bounced painfully against the cement floor. The other guard hurriedly try to unlock the door before he was next. He was taking too long in his nervousness, so she grabbed the keys from him and opened the cell herself.

By then the smell hit her so hard that she nearly vomited. The guard next to her did so. She held her nose. "How could you let this happen?!" she hissed. The guard was too busy throwing up to answer. "The both of you must have noticed. You can smell it for miles!" He was dead. She knew it. He had to be dead.

She was terrified of what she'd find but she had to know, had to see. She staggered into the dark, suffocating space with her light stick. It smelled like vomit, feces and rotten flesh with just the hint of something sweet. She had to breathe through her mouth to get anywhere closer.

Inside the cell she began to hear it. A whisper crackling noise. She was covered in her own sweat, it dripping into her eyes as she waved her light stick around trying to find him. She could see his body still chained to the wall, but he wasn't holding himself up. As she stepped closer, something crunched under her feet. She pointed her light stick toward the ground. The floor looked like it was moving.

She gave a start when she realized something was crawling up her arm, and she brushed it away. It was an ant. They were ants. And they were everywhere.

She rushed over to Sasuke, who was sitting in a puddle of vomit, diarrhea and congealed blood. That much she knew from the smell alone. It even seemed to burn her eyes, but she forced them on his body, trying to see what had done this. He was naked, all his bindings were no longer there, and the chakra seal was also gone.

And then she saw the most nightmarish thing she had ever seen.

She screamed.

He was covered in them. The ants were crawling in and out of his empty eye sockets as they had eaten the eyelids, as well as much of his skin, coming in and out of his nose, mouth and ears.

Her scream made her scramble away from him, but the most horrid thing of it all was that he had heard her. His head moved to the sound of her voice. He was still alive.

That was when she actually vomited.

The ants were now crawling on her. She swatted at them hastily as she felt a few of them bite her. She turned to the open door, where the guard who was also vomiting was still on his knees. "You! Get me a gurney. We need to take him to the surgery!" The guard blinked at her. "Now! Or I'll pull you in here and make you carry him yourself!" The guard scurried away.

She took a moment to gasp at the putrid air, trying to get enough oxygen for her brain to comprehend the situation. She almost couldn't look at him again. Oh, but she would. She would never abandon him.

She broke the chain and picked him up, ignoring the bugs crawling on her, and began carrying him part of the way since she knew the guard with the gurney would be too slow.

Once arriving at the surgery, she laid Sasuke on one of the surgical tables, giving orders. Not everyone listened to her, but with the few that did, the rest began to follow. She didn't know who she could trust at the prison, so she requested the names of several nurses that she worked with at the hospital. These people were young, looked up to her, and would come if she called them. Also, "Call Shino Aburame!"

She quickly tied up her hair, putting on her scrubs though she already knew that many of the ants had already gotten underneath her clothes. She slapped at them from time to time but found there wasn't much she could do about them. She ordered the rest of her staff to suit up to protect themselves.

The staff around her halfhearted seemed to try to help, until they noticed the ants, which then caused them to quickly change their minds. She ignored all of them, attaching the infusion pump to a vein in Sasuke's neck. It was hard to find because his throat was swollen and bruised from the collar, and there were so many ants still crawling on his skin. Finding a place to put all the monitor sensors was also a challenge. When finally, some of the nurses she had summoned arrived she set them to work on that. They hadn't been prepared for what was being ask of them though, and many flung themselves away when seeing the horror that was once Sasuke Uchiha.

"Suit up and put respirators on," Sakura told them. She was going to need to poison the ants. That was the only way.

Sasuke was having trouble breathing, the insects blocking his airways. She used compressed air to try to clear them, but more would just crawl in the way. He was awake, though weak, and she tried to give him some morphine to ease the agony he must have been in. He had no chakra. The ants had eaten that too. She wouldn't be able to save him this time. The computer monitors were finally starting up, telling her information that she already knew. Respiration, slow. Heart rate, inconsistent. Blood pressure, nearly nonexistent. This was it. He was dying.

And yet she couldn't give up.

She felt his shallow heart beat through every muscle of her arm, louder than her machines, because it pulsated within her. The only thing louder was his breath.

As the nurses slowly came to their senses, some of them too busy throwing up or cowering in the corner, she directed them to heal the tender parts that had been eaten away by the ants. His tongue, eyelids, ears lopes and genitals were all badly damaged. While they did that, she doused his body in poison, trying to kill the ants. Sasuke was immune to most poisons, so it wouldn't hurt him further.

That was why poison hadn't been used initially, she realized. They had needed to assassinate him in another way.

Poison, though cruel in its own way, was nothing like this, this slow agonizingly eating alive type of way. She rinsed him with water after the poison, trying to clean his skin from the blood, feces and vomit he had been lying in. There was something else on him too, something with a rancid milk smell and with a sticky substance that she swore was honey but was not going to taste it to find out. So, they had covered him in sugar, and possibly forced fed it to him as well until he was sick. His wounds were teeming with infection. It would take all of their efforts to battle the microscopic enemies.

When Shino arrived, he didn't announce himself. Because of this she wasn't so sure how long he had been standing there. "Shino!" she exclaimed once she looked up and noticed him.

"You're trying to save him," he stated, like he couldn't believe it. It made her wonder if he was part of this.

"What do I do?"

"Even if you poison the adults, the eggs and pupas will still be nestled deep within the host."

"And how do I get rid of those!?" She cried impatiently.

"Why are you trying to save him? He's a murderer and a traitor."

Sakura glared at him. "If you refuse to help me, I will te-"

He raised his hand. "It was just a question." The ants that were crawling on the floor started to move in a more orderly fashion. "It's a shame you doused the body with poison. So many more of them will die as they locate their offspring."

The ants, the ones still alive, began to reenter Sasuke's body. The nurses shied away. They were already squeamish when they first arrived. Only a few stayed, hoping that they might be rewarded or promoted, she thought. Sakura clenched her fists, wanting to slap the ants away. At first, she though Shino had betrayed her, but the ants started crawling out of the body, round white eggs stuck to their backs. They were crawling out of Sasuke's open wounds though, and if she had anything left in her stomach, she would have vomited again. It took fifteen minutes for the billions of ants to leave Sasuke and go to Shino, which was really quite impressive, but it still felt like an eternity to her.

As the number of ants began to slow, she had her staff start to heal the open wounds, but she was beginning to notice that his intestines were badly damaged. That's where the ants must have been making their home. She would have to do so much to repair the tissues.

How long had he been like this? This couldn't have happened before Naruto left. Whoever did this wouldn't have risked the Hokage's wrath. So only three days at the most. The damage couldn't be much greater than what she had already found, still Sasuke had been dealing with this for three days, being eaten alive.

"Am I dismissed?" Shino asked, after standing there in silence for ten whole minutes.

If you're not going to do anything more, she wanted to say, but instead she said, "Yes, thank you." Sasuke had fallen asleep from his exhaustion. At least he wasn't currently suffering.

It took three hours for Sakura to be convinced that Sasuke was now stable, in which then she dismissed the other nurses. Sasuke's cell was now inhabitable and she used the excuse to put Sasuke in a nicer cell. This one was cleaner, had a window, and a nicer bed. She hooked him up to all her medical equipment, not caring that they involved electricity, and stayed by his side twenty-four hours a day, using her chakra to heal him.

Anyone that would argue with her could do nothing of the new set up. She was too strong to be moved, and no one was brave enough to try to relocate the Uchiha. New guards were put by his door, and a new chakra seal was placed on him for precaution, but that was all Sakura had done. He had no chain, he wore nice hospital clothes to keep him warm, and he was safe. Sakura's only plan was to stay by his side until Naruto returned. Then she didn't know what she would do. She thought perhaps once Sasuke was executed, she herself would just no longer exist.

She had given him all her attention, focusing on his internal organs, many of them having to had been repaired when he was under surgery, the rotted and damaged parts cut away so that the new cells could regenerate. He couldn't eat or drink, so all nutrients and fluids were given to him through an IV. He needed a catheter. He had a canula. He had gone through 15 liters of blood since the time of the operation until recovery. But he was alive.

His skin had been badly damaged, but the nurses had done a good job at putting him back together the best they could. There seemed no point to try to rebuild Sasuke's eyelids, but they cleaned up the sockets in his head. Parts of his tongue were now missing, but if it effected his speech she never knew. His lips and ears were sewed back together, the healed scars little indentations in the skin, but from far away it wasn't too noticeable. He was pitiful to look at, but with all his wounds healed it wasn't too terrible.

She hadn't slept. She'd hardly eaten. What was the point if Sasuke could not eat? She continued her treatment, healing his scarred tissues and introducing solid food to him once again. Unlike the first time she had brought him back from the brink of death, she was now able to spend twenty-four seven with him, which sped up his healing process.

"I'm never leaving you again," she told him, and she didn't. She couldn't. She sat with him, in companionable silence. Even she had run out of things to say to him, but it didn't matter anymore. They were together and the both of them were alive. He mostly slept as he was healing. She was contented to just breathe the same air as he was. She loved to listen to him breathe, soft yet sturdy, as if whispering to her that everything was fine now.

The only time Sakura ventured to open the door to the outside world was to ask for supplies, mostly fresh water as there wasn't a sink in the cell. But she also asked for food, and medicines for her machines.

She hadn't slept in days.

Guards where standing outside the cell. Sasuke still had to wear a chakra seal of course. If she went home to take a nap and change her clothes, he should be fine, but yet she couldn't leave him.

She still made Sasuke walk around the room for exercise, but this was starting to tire her out. It felt highly inappropriate to lay down in the bed with him. The thought that she thought that was inappropriate while the other things she had done was not, was insane. She was insane.

She undressed herself to her underwear. She hadn't bathed in forever, but the air on her skin made her feel a little cleaner. Sasuke was only as clean as he could be with her sponge bathing him. He shouldn't mind, she had thought. She pressed her knee to the bed. Sasuke turned his ear to her as the mattress sank. That's what he did when she had his attention. He heard everything.

She felt him listen to her with interest, as she swept her other leg over him. She had no thought that this was dangerous. He was only a man, and she only a woman. She settled onto the bed, her chest pressed against his side, her head resting on his shoulder as he breathed, soft and steady. He and her both found their peace in that very moment, and she slipped into unconsciousness, listening to his heartbeat.

Her dreams, of being permanently attached to the mountain of security, were destroyed as she fell. She was falling forever, away from her everything. She was light as a leaf, and the current was pushing her this way and that, rocking her back and forth to oblivion. She was going down.

Her eyes snapped open and she gasped in a huge breath as her back gently touched the sheets of her own bed. She had been fluttering slowly down, but with her wakefulness, she suddenly plunged, as the large hands that were holding her dropped her.

Her eyes scanned her own room before landing on Choji who was bright red as a tomato, and making spluttering noises.

"Choji, what the fuck are you doing?!" She looked down at herself. She was wearing one of the white hospital robes that they gave to some of the patients. That's right, she had taking off her clothes. She also thought that she smelled a hint of chloroform on her breath.

She glared back at Choji, who was holding up his hands as if expecting to have to block a punch. "I-Ino told me to! She said you needed to be taken home!"

Sakura clenched her teeth. She had been taken away from Sasuke. Before she could process what that could mean, her eyes flickered to the jar on her bed stand still covered by her shirt. Choji had followed her gaze as well, confused. She grabbed the jar, hugging it to her chest, covering it with her robe.

"Go home, Choji." She slid off the bed, but Choji got in her way.

"I can't let you leave. Ino said!" Sakura's heart started to pound so hard, she could hear it hitting the glass of the jar.

"Why?" she asked.

Choji was sweating. "She just said, okay? Listen, you're tired. You need to rest. Get back into the bed."

She took a step to the door, and Choji immediately expanded both of his hands, completely blocking her path.

She feinted towards the door, Choji bracing himself for her impact, which he knew could send him flying to the other side of the earth, but instead she switched direction in the last minute, and ran through her window.

The window was closed of course, she crashed through it, holding the jar safely against her chest, and hit the ground before Choji could even think to make a grab for her. She started running. She knew something was terribly wrong as soon as her feet touched the ground outside. It was humid and warm, and she couldn't breathe.

There were a lot of people out today. She had to dodge them as she ran through the street. She could have taken to the roof tops, but with this many people it would help conceal her if Choji thought of pursuing her.

Why were the streets so crowded? Looking around, she didn't recognize most of the faces she saw, but they were most definitely ninja, wearing the headbands of their nations. They must be the ninja that had come to witness Sasuke's trial. Some Konoha ninja were mixed into the fray as well, and even the odd villager non-ninja. The crowd was loud, and cheering, a strong scent of booze and sweat coming from their bodies. She was shoved along, as the crowd seemed to have a set destination in mind.

Then she was knocked into Ino. "Sakura!" Sakura scrambled away from Ino, clutching her jar. "Where's Choji?!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Last I saw, he was in my bedroom, where you told him to bring my unconscious body."

Sakura saw Ino mouth the word, "Fuck," before she stated, "You had fallen asleep. Of course, I had him take you home! You need to go back to bed. If you lose too much chakra you can seriously harm yourself."

Ino was bullshitting her. Yes, she had been so tired that she may have been dead to the world for a few moments, but she wasn't close to dying from it, not yet. Something else was going on. Unfortunately, she was tired, and was having a hard time processing her surroundings.

"What is that?" and before she could even think to answer, Ino was pulling the jar out of her arms. Sakura held on and gave a good tug to pull the jar back to her, but not before Ino saw what was in it. "Is that..." Ino had let go, no chance in winning a tug-o-war with Sakura. "Is that what I think it is?!"

Sakura didn't answer, just hid the jar with her robe better.

"Are you fucking insane!? What are you even supposing to do with that?!"

Sakura ignored her. "Where's Sasuke?" she asked darkly instead.

"Why? Are you planning on giving that to him?"

"WHERE IS HE?!" Sakura screamed. Before Ino could say anything, a bunch of shouts were distantly heard. Sakura's head whipped around to the sound, and then she bolted.

She knocked people over in her haste. No. No this couldn't be happening. This wasn't happening.

She followed the noises and the congestion of the crowd. She could hardly move forward with how many people were in her way, but she kept pushing. They pushed back. She hadn't wanted to kill anyone, but her panic made her twist the arms and bodies away and she heard bones break in her haste. She knew he was there just by how rowdy the crowd had gotten.

"SASUKE!" she wasn't tall enough to see him. All she could see where bodies throwing things and punching. She crouched down, wiggling her way through legs.

There he was.

They had taken him out of the prison, dragging him on the ground. He was being pulled by several people, all making a grab for him, a rope tied around his neck. The people that couldn't get to him settled for kicking him, throwing rocks and rotten food as he past. He twisted helplessly, unable to get his feet underneath him as he was dragged in the dirt, his skin red and bleeding, his clothes ripped.

"What are you doing?! Stop it!" but her voice was lost in the cries and jeers of the crowd and Sasuke was soon pulled out of her eyesight. She looked around, trying to find a faster way around all the people. Maybe if she tried the rooftops!

She moved away from the crowd, trying to find Sasuke. It looked like someone was attempting to gather the attention of the people, his hands up as he circled around the down body of Sasuke, and the people still trying to hurt him. She recognized that man. It was the Aburame guard.

"Let the poor bastard stand up!" he said to the crowd, a wide cruel grin on his face. They had stopped by the only tree inside the village. Sasuke did not stand up, but the men around him hoisted him up anyway. "There we go," The Aburame took the rope that had been attached to Sasuke's neck in his hands. Then he gave it a tug, causing Sasuke to fall forward and straight into his fist.

The crowd went wild.

"Stop!"

Everyone else cheered. People started throwing things again, some of them being knives and ninja stars. The ones that struck tore into him, sticking into him or flying by. Many of them missed, in order to avoid Aburame. They weren't thrown by ninja that were upper rank. Most of the loudest of them didn't seem to be ninja at all, or maybe just low ranked foreigners. There were higher ranked ninja in the crowd. She had seen them. But they were just watching, doing nothing.

She was finally allowed to jump into the clearing around Sasuke that the Aburame man had made. The wind was picking up slightly and it was tousling her hair as she glared at the man in a rage. "What are you doing?!" Even as she shouted this, the other men around had already hauled Sasuke to his feet and was throwing the end of the rope over the lowest tree limb. It was obvious on what they were doing.

The Aburame man paused, wondering if he should explain before deciding to. "Executing this prisoner."

"This prisoner," she had to reframe from tearing the Aburame man's limbs off. She softened her hold on the jar, so it wouldn't crack. "... is not scheduled for execution until after the return of the Hokage."

"The Hokage has been delayed another week."

Her eyes widened. Had it really been that long? She hadn't noticed. "But-"

"Unfortunately, the Hokage hasn't returned in time for the execution, but it was scheduled for today. There was no order to wait for him, so we must proceed."

"No, wait. This is wrong." Sasuke's sentence was lethal injection and it was quite clear that these people meant to hang him. Wait a minute. "You... You're not supposed to be here. You're banned from the village."

The Aburame narrowed his eyes at her. "Like I said, the Hokage is not here," he answered. Then he turned to the rest of the crowd. "Who here thinks this man is innocent?!" The people all shouted, spewing out things that Sasuke Uchiha had done. "Has this man not been found guilty at trial?!" More cheers. "Has he not been condemned a murderer, a traitor, a rapist?" he added that last one with a smug look in her direction.

The men holding Sasuke up started tightening the rope and a small wooden step was brought to put him on. He was a little too tall, his hair brushing the edge of the branch. They had to hold him for him to stand.

Sasuke was about to be hanged right before her eyes. What could she do? There were too many of them. Even if she managed to get Sasuke away, where would she go with him?

But then she got an idea in her desperation. "Stop! Stop, look what I have!" She held out her jar and leapt to another rooftop so that the entire crowd could see. "I have the last of the Uchiha's eyes!"

The crowd hushed, staring up at her in amazement like she could unleash the powerful genjutsu that floated inside the glass jar.

"Why should Konoha even have the eyes?!" she heard someone shout. "They couldn't even control the Uchiha when they were alive!" And there were more shouts.

"Well maybe no one will get them! If you kill Sasuke Uchiha before the Hokage returns, I will smash the eyes and their powers will be gone forever!" The crowd suddenly became quiet. Most of the crowd seemed to be foreigners, but with the few Konoha member here and there. She recognized a few faces.

Sasuke, who had been too busy trying to breathe, also now had her attention. His ear was cocked to her and his breathing had slowed, a drool of blood still hanging from his mouth from where he had been punched. She noticed that they had given him another charka seal. It looked like this one was nailed to his chest with a staple gun, hanging onto his skin even after most of his shirt had been torn. No way for him to tear it off with his nonexistent hands, and it was a little too far down on his torso to be caught within his teeth.

The sky began to sprinkle, cooling the humid hot air just slightly, but it was still hard to breathe. Right now, she was just buying her time. She didn't have a plan. She didn't plan on placing the jar down by her feet or taking that step back. Wait. Why was she moving?

Are you crazy?! There are Konoha witnesses here! They've just seen you with that jar.

That was Ino's voice. And it was coming from inside her head.

You're going to go home, and I'll try to figure out some story.

Sakura was jumping down from the building now, not in control of her body.

INO GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

She slowed, body trembling as the both of them try to get a hold of it. Sasuke's dead Sakura! He's been dead. He's been dead since he was twelve. He hasn't been the Sasuke you loved since then. You need to let him go! You need closure. Don't watch if you can't.

No. Not like this.

Now that the eyes didn't seem to be in danger anymore, the people turned to each other confused, until one of them shouted to get on with it already. Sakura forced her head to turn to see, Ino trying to turn it away with all her power, but Sakura had always been stronger than her.

Chaos ensued.

People crowded Sasuke, reaching at him, tearing him with fingers and knives. He was too tall. The rope was too short. Someone had climbed onto the tree, looking like they were trying to find a better place to tie the rope. At this rate she wasn't sure if the rope would even be needed. They were stabbing him. Over and over, his head thrown back from the pain, mouth open with a silent scream that was halted from the noose around his neck. The crowd was noisy, but she thought she could hear him trying to gasp. She felt his heart pounding in her head.

"STOP!" And it was her own voice. She had pushed Ino out and was running back. "Please stop!" His blood was everywhere. It coated the faces of the monsters all around as they slowly tore away his life, stabbing and stabbing. She couldn't get to him. Ino had led her farther away and there were too many bodies in the way. She grabbed one un-expectant one and threw him back. Then the next.

Someone had made an attempt to reach for the jar that had been left on the roof when another tried to stop him. The jar fell, shattered on the ground, and the eyes were lost in a storm of feet.

"SASUKE!"

She could hear his flesh being torn from the mob.

"FIGHT BACK! FIGHT THEM!" She threw another person out of the way. What was she expecting Sasuke to do? He had lost his power. He had lost everything.

But not her. He hadn't lost her. She was almost there. He was just a few more feet away. There was about five more people on him now. She grabbed one, threw whoever it was farther than the rest, not caring if it killed him.

And then everything stopped. Everyone stopped moving including her. Silence fell and for a second she could not even think.

"What the fuck is going on here?" She was able to turn her head to the voice, but it was difficult. Shikamaru was standing not too far away, having caught everyone in the vicinity in his Shadow Imitation Technique. He took two steps back, which caused the entire crowd to take two steps back as well.

It allowed her to see Sasuke better. He still had managed to keep one toe on the stool, which was tittering and threatening to fall over. The rope was taunt against his neck and pulling him to the side, closer to the tree. He was bleeding freely, minor cuts all over his body, but much deeper ones in his stomach, just below the chakra seal tag, where people had most reach of him. His core was an incomprehensible bloody mess. He had lost so much weight since he had first come to Konoha, his muscle mass had shrunk, and his rib bones stuck out in the stretched position he was in. She could see inside of him. She could see his organs in the mass of bloodied flesh, pressed to the opening of his wounds, no arms for him to hold himself together. Each breath expended his chest, stretching him wider, each pump of his heart shuddering his body with his own pulse.

"I feel like I don't have to say, that the responsibility of Sasuke Uchiha's execution was not given to the lot of you," Shikamaru said darkly. "This needs to stop right now. To the ones of you that are Konoha, you are deliberately disobeying the Hokage's demands, and for the rest of ya, I'll be reporting to your Kage over the fact that you are attacking a Konoha citizen."

"He's no citizen of ours, Shikamaru!" she heard a faint cry.

"Nonetheless he's under our custody. I'll be taking all your names as annoying and troublesome that will be."

Sakura was weeping tears of relief when Shikamaru had arrived. He caught her eye, and released the shadow control over her, nodding his head to have her come over to him. She quickly did so.

"Thank y-"

"He's dying Sakura," he told her quietly so as no one else could be listening. "Do you have anything on you to put him out of his misery?"

Sakura blinked at him. "No."

Shikamaru swore, most likely blaming her for being a ninja unprepared. "I don't want to have to move him again. Nothing's been scheduled or planned since Naruto had been unable to return in time. I rather get this done as soon as possible. You're going to have to do it."

"Wha-what?"

"Just stop his heart. I'll have Ino do it instead if you can't. I just know that you're not going to torture him while doing it. He must be in a great deal of pain. If you don't, he'll just die slowly."

Sakura looked back over to Sasuke, still freely bleeding. There was a stab wound above the chakra seal that looked like it might have cut into the aorta artery, and even though Shikamaru wasn't a medical ninja, even he could see that he was bleeding to death. Or perhaps it was just the bloody mess that was showing of Sasuke's organs. Yet, Sasuke still had that one toe on the stool, straining his body to live. He wasn't trying to die. Not once while he was in her care did he try to kill himself, like many of her other patients. If he had wanted to die, he could have. If he had given up, during the operation on his brain, or the assassinate attempt with the ants, he would be dead now. Sasuke Uchiha wanted to live.

"I can save him," she said instead. Shikamaru looked at her in surprise. He hadn't known her as well as Ino and Naruto. He didn't know that she was crazy.

"I'll have Ino do it then," he answered, ignoring her. Sakura was once again trapped in his shadow jutsu.

"No! Please! I can save him!" She saw Ino approaching from behind them, coming to carry out Shikamaru's order. "Naruto isn't back yet!"

Then she heard the rumble of distant thunder. "Oh no," she whispered. She spared another look at Sasuke. He hadn't caused the thunder storm. There was no way he could have, but it was too risky. They shouldn't be here. "We need to get him inside. Stop! Don't do it! Don't get close to him! We need to take him away from here!" Sakura was promptly ignored.

And at that moment, Sasuke's toe slipped.

Shikamaru raised his hand, stopping Ino. It didn't matter anymore.

The drop that Sasuke made was too small to have broken his neck right away. He swung, his body convulsing from slowly being strangled to death. Each jolt he did was like a smash in Sakura's heart. She couldn't breathe either, as if she was on the noose's end. It could take up to fifteen minutes for him to die this way. "Please!" She suddenly had breath in her lungs, pleading to Shikamaru. "Please cut him down! Cut him down! NO!" She sobbed. She screamed. She begged. The crowd jeered and whooped, Sasuke still twitching and convulsing, blood dripping from his body onto the ground. It started to rain harder, drowning the noise of the crowd out, but not Sakura's screams. She could hear nothing, her blood pounding in her ears. Sasuke's breath had stopped. She couldn't hear it anymore.

And then there was a flash of light and a booming noise that was louder than even Sakura's voice. It was like God himself had tried to strike down the Uchiha. The branches of the tree were flying in every direction and hitting people. Shikamaru was so shocked that he momentary released everyone his hold. Sakura had thought that the tree had exploded. No. It was still standing, though in worse shape. It had simply been struck by lightning. The inside of it glowed from the heat of the lightning. The branch that Sasuke was on had stayed intact and he was still hanging and still dying. The tree had caught on fire, and the flames licked him, catching on to the tattering parts of his clothing. The crowd shouted up at the sky, as if they had just witnessed something divine.

But their prisoner was still alive, slowly twitching and spinning in the air.

"Please," she pleaded to Shikamaru. "Please, please, please." Her voice was but a whisper, exhausted from her screaming.

Shikamaru swore when he realized that Sasuke was in fact not dead yet. He nodded to Ino again to end the process.

Sasuke's body had caught on fire, but the fire was suddenly growing faster than it should have been. Sakura thought she noticed the chakra seal had been damaged by the flame. And then Sasuke's body curled up, his knees coming to his chest, his feet rising up to the head of the closest person, which happened to be the Aburame man, locked, twisted and broke the man's neck.

She hadn't been looking at Shikamaru, as she was so focused on Sasuke, but she could feel him gape at what just happened, as well as everyone else in the vicinity. The cracking of the man's neck had been louder than the lightning. It had been done so perfectly, swiftly and precise, as if Sasuke was showing everyone the correct way of killing someone.

The fire burned through the rope and Sasuke fell to the ground, his legs still locked under the dead man's head. He flung the body with his legs at the closest person. And then everything else started to happen too fast. God hadn't come down to take the prisoner after all. It was the devil himself who had descended, and he was here for all of them.

She heard Shikamaru start, which made her turn to him. Out of nowhere, there was a large snake and it had sunk its fangs into his heal. Before she could process this, Ino was there, cutting off the snake's head. Immediately Shikamaru began to look sick. Ino clutched him, and slowly brought him to the ground. She removed the head of the snake, putting her chakra infused hand to the wound before turning her head to Sakura. "Sakura! You're better at poison than I! Help!"

But Sakura was frozen where she was, her gaze turning back to Sasuke. He was still on fire, but the fire was his. He had used it to sear and seal up the wounds in his torso. He had gotten his feet underneath him, and as others attempted to bring him down, he swung and kicked, driving the knives and weapons meant for him into the other bodies, breathing out bouts of fire to help keep his balance with his lack of arms. "He's going to kill everyone here," she whispered. He was. It was his art. He didn't waste time on torture or causing pain. There was no purpose to it. He kept some of them alive just enough, so he could absorb their chakra with his contact, and then he killed them. He had been more merciful than any of them in that way.

And he was fast. He had always been fast. He dodged and twirled, using the fire around him as a distraction. He caught someone's flying knife with his teeth, lodging it free from the surprise grip, and using it to cut their aortas, killing them instantly.

"Sakura!" she turned back to Shikamaru and Ino, falling to her knees and raising her hands to heal, but she couldn't concentrate, she couldn't locate the poison in Shikamaru's body. Ino nodded her head. "You stay with him," and then she left.

"No, stop!" Ino was going to be killed too. She thought Ino meant to try to fight Sasuke, but Sakura saw now that she was keeping back, checking to see if any of the wounded were still alive. They weren't. Sasuke continued his slaughter. His enemies cried out in battle as they charged, but he was silent and ruthless. There was fire everywhere. Terrible and disfigured as he was, he was still graceful and sure in his movements. He was a demon straight from hell. Immortal.

She attempted again to try to locate the poison inside Shikamaru. It had already reached his heart. She tried to pull it out and keep the blood flowing in the correct direction at the same time, but it was slipping. She was losing her grip on the poison. Her hands were shaking too much.

Some ninja with water based ninjutsu were trying to attack Sasuke, dousing him with water. It streaked the blood and soot on his skin, but Sasuke would just create more fire that seemed to burn everything no matter what it was. He was too powerful. The water just made a better current for his Chidori anyway. He defeated every enemy that came to him. He kept going, on and on until the only one left for him to kill was Ino.

Ino was turned away from him, knelt on the ground over a dead body. He must have sensed her life somehow as she became his new focus. Ino turned to meet him, blocking the knife in his teeth with her own. He spun, getting his leg up for a kick that would have been too fast for Ino to block. Afraid for Ino's life, Sakura hadn't notice when Shikamaru pushed himself up, and threw his chakra infused blade. It cut Sasuke's leg off cleanly before the kick landed its mark. In the middle of Sasuke's spin, he let out a breath of fire to keep himself upright, then turned his head to them instead.

Sakura covered Shikamaru with her body as a giant hot flame scorched the air above her. Sasuke had missed and she spared one second to think of it before returning her attention to Shikamaru. She was losing him. The effort he put into his chakra infused knife had spread the poison even further. She wasn't going to get it all out before his heart failed.

Sasuke swayed on one leg, his energy seeming to have run out as well and then fell to the ground, landing on his back. Shikamaru's life slipped away under her hands, and Ino rose, approached Sasuke with her knife, about to bury it into his heart.

Abandoning Shikamaru, for he was gone, she knew he was gone, Sakura scrambled to her feet, trying to stop Ino. "Ino! Get back!"

But it was too late, Sasuke had brought up the stump of one of his missing arms, letting his Lighting Release shoot in an impenetrable bar of light that struck through Ino's chest. Sakura has seen Sasuke kill with the move so many times before. She knew Ino was dead when her body fell into her arms, but she still gripped her, searching for her pulse with her chakra. "No!" She sobbed. Ino lay limp against her, and she felt all the regret of their friendship. This was her fault.

It was all her fault.

In the midst of her dismay, there was still that pull in her brain, the need and desire to try to fix things. It was the only thing keeping her from drowning in her despair. She had a job to do. She had to help the wounded.

But the only one still alive here was the mangled and deformed villain laying before her. She gently laid Ino's dead body down and crawled over to Sasuke.

He wasn't breathing. As her eyes fell upon him, she saw that his throat was too swollen from the hanging to allow air through his lungs, though the rope had long since burned away. He hadn't been breathing this entire time. His heart was still beating. She thought she could see it, ramming against his thin chest, pumping the blood out of his femoral artery from his severed leg and onto the ground. He was no longer coated in fire, but the soot of it was black on his skin, concealing any burn marks he could have had. Even the rain wasn't enough to wash it away.

He was still alive, so she was trained to help him. She didn't have any of her supplies. She would make due.

She found the head of the snake that had killed Shikamaru. Not worrying about poisoning Sasuke with it, she tore out a fang and stuck it in Sasuke's chest. He suddenly sucked in a whoosh of air through the hollow fang, filling his lungs with oxygen. His face was mildly shocked, like he never thought he would breathe again.

Sakura then tore a strip of her robe to tie around Sasuke's severed leg, tight, to stop anymore bleeding of his precious life. "I didn't ask for any of this!" she shouted to him, angry and despairing.

Sasuke turned his face to her, expression blank, yet still telling her everything. Oh yes, she did ask for it. She had told him to fight and fight he did. He had done this for her.

Her whole body was shaking as she checked him with her chakra. He had none left, she realized. In fact, the very remainder of what was giving him life, was draining with each breath he was taking. The energy it was taking for him to use his lungs was depleting his chakra even faster than when he was only simply bleeding. She tried to give him more. He should be able to absorb it from her by contact alone, but she was finding that his body was rejecting it. He needed it. His heart and lungs would need it. She tried harder, becoming desperate.

"You're not dying!" she shouted. He had been dying for all the time that she had known him. "Not yet! You're not finished! You're not finished. You killed everyone but me! I'm not dead yet! You still have to kill me!" Her voice changed, from anger to sobbing. "Take me with you! Don't leave! Take me with you!"

Sasuke's face jerked, and she thought she had lost him for a moment, blood spluttering from his lips. It took a few moments for her to realize that he was laughing at her. Air could no longer reach his throat, but his swollen blue lips mouthed out one word.

Bye...

And Sasuke Uchiha died.