She was walking alongside Hinata when the alarms began to sound. Meeting eyes with her old friend she suddenly felt her breath catch in her throat and her blood turn cold. Never, in the decade she'd been in Suna, had she ever heard them go off, and as the power went out and the emergency lights around each corner began to flicker, the adrenaline kicked in.

Scooping Hinata up out of her wheelchair she turned and ran, the other woman wrapping her arms around her neck; they both remained eerily quiet.

They'd ran drills throughout the base before, that way each occupant would know what to do in case of an emergency, so as Sakura sprinted through the corridors and down several sets of stairs she eventually flew through an unmarked set of metal doors.

"What do we do now?" She heard a young ninja ask her as she flew by, depositing Hinata into another wheelchair at the far end of the room. Turning around she watched as multiple people looked at her, fear in their eyes, as if seeking guidance.

Meeting each of their eyes—her own only flickering to theirs for a second each—she felt her chest ache. Many of them were children in her eyes. Young members of the resistance who had grown up knowing that the name Uchiha meant nothing good, and who had grown up simply waiting for their peace to end.

Sakura had known this day was coming despite never wanting it to arrive. Hardly a month ago Kumo had been attacked, and despite the fact that they managed to escape being taken over, they'd suffered incredible casualties. Forty percent of their military had been decimated and nineteen percent of their civilian population had been slaughtered.

It wasn't until Sasuke realized that the heart of the resistance wasn't in Kumo when they retreated. And when they did so—with only minimal casualties on their end—Sakura knew it wouldn't be long before Suna was struck down. After all, they were the main target, Shikamaru had informed everyone with a serious look.

Sakura had only seen Shikamaru once since the reports of Sasuke's attack had gotten around. She knew he was busy preparing and that there was a mission that would take place any day now—a mission that he had excluded her from, despite their regained trust in her—that would take place in Konoha.

"Sakura-san?" Another voice pulled her from her thoughts and she lifted her head to see none other than her friend's young daughter standing uneasily in front of her. "What do we do?"

Just a child, she was the smartest genin Sakura had ever come across—something understandable given who her parents where—but again, she was just a child, and the fear that flashed through her eyes reminded Sakura of that, not allowing her to forget that she was in charge of lives now.

She met eyes with Hinata and when her friend nodded toward the exit, Sakura turned and quickly made her way toward the door.

"Sakura-san-?"

"Everyone, listen up," Hinata instructed, pulling the attention of the young genin and chuunin away from her retreating form, "if you have teammates unaccounted for do not worry, there are two other guarded rooms in the base, just on different levels…"

Hinata's voice slowly faded into the background as she exited the room, and when she began to run, making her way to the ground level as quickly as possible, she could only hear her heartbeat in her ears, blocking out the sound of the alarms that were still blaring. But just as she reached out for the doorknob, the blaring noise stopped abruptly.

She stumbled a bit, confused at the lack of sound despite the fact that the emergency lights were still flashing and they hadn't received any notice. But when she heard a voice from down the hallway and around a corner, she froze up completely.

"Thank fuck, I thought that noise would never end. How the hell did you figure out that door was the right one?"

And when another voice chimed in, she felt the nausea build. "It's the only door with a red 'caution' painted across the front, moron. It's common sense to—"

The moment she second voice stopped, Sakura knew why. Turning around she ran down the hallway, grabbing the doorknob to what she knew was an extra office and throwing it open. It was a small office, but with the lights out she knew it would be easy enough to hide herself from sight.

Although despite her childish actions she knew it wouldn't matter; Karin was a sensor, and had undoubtedly felt her presence.

Minutes ticked by slowly and as Sakura's anxiety reached its peak, the doorknob slowly turned.

"Whatever you do," a quiet voice whispered into the room as the door opened, "don't say a word. And keep your chakra as concealed as possible."

Sakura immediately stood from where she'd been crouching behind a chair, fists lit green with chakra and ready for a fight. "What—"

Karin flickered in front of her immediately and Sakura could see the panic behind her glasses; her question died on her lips and instead she wanted to ask something else.

Why aren't you attacking me?

"You're not dead," Karin muttered to herself under her breath, "fuck. Holy shit. Okay, look at me," as Karin grabbed her clenched fists, Sakura shuddered, "you need to lower your chakra now. He's coming this way to investigate and you're, well you're supposed to be—fuck. I still can't believe you're alive. Just," she squeezed her fists again, harder this time, and shot the pink-haired woman another desperate look. "Just be quiet, and lower your chakra. Now."

"Karin."

As that single word fell upon her ears, Sakura collapsed to her knees. The green disappeared from her hands, the breath flew from her lungs, and for several long seconds she felt as if she were dreaming.

Standing in the doorway was none other than Sasuke himself.

"Ah, Sasuke, I was just coming to join you guys," the way Karin could sound switch tones so nonchalantly and so unsuspectingly made Sakura's head spin with unbridled confusion, "false alarm."

Sakura couldn't see him too well from around Karin, but his silhouette was unmistakable—for some reason her first thought was about how badly he needed a haircut. "It's not a medic?" His voice reeked of skepticism.

Every word he spoke shattered Sakura's heart more and more with each memory his deep timbre brought forth. She hated him. She loved him. She'd never wanted to see him again, and yet this was all she wanted, simply to look him in the eyes again.

But as she glanced up to meet his eyes—why had he not reacted to her presence yet?—she slapped a hand over her mouth, fighting back a gasp.

Grey eyes stared straight ahead, unseeing.

Sasuke was blind.

"No. Although the chakra was promising, it's just an ordinary girl hiding under a desk from the stupid alarms. Nothing special about her." Karin shrugged as she turned fully toward him, "Where're the others?"

"Leaving," he stated simply as his empty eyes scanned the room, looking for something they couldn't see anyways. "Just like we are."

And without another word he turned and walked away, moving with more confidence than a blind man should reasonably have.

Before Karin followed behind him she turned around and bent so that she was at Sakura's level. After a quick embrace, and a few mumbled expletives under her breath, she looked into Sakura's eyes and spoke quickly.

"Get ready," she warned with rushed, whispered words, "after he finds a medic to fix his eyes he'll be back. And he's going to destroy everything."

.

.

.

Hours later she stood on shaky legs in Temari's office as she recounted Karin's warning, voicing her confusion along with it. The older woman had found her, minutes after Sasuke and his team had departed, sitting on the ground of the empty office, shaking, crying, and hyperventilating. She could feel a complete meltdown coming and it only made her heartbeat faster as she stood and stared at Temari through blurry eyes, listening to her every word.

"We attempted to recruit her a couple years back—after Sasuke tried killing her, and failed—but she chose to remain in Konoha instead and be a mole."

"He's blind," Sakura breathed out, "I saw him and he didn't know it was me and—and—" closing her mouth abruptly she told herself to focus on her breathing. She hadn't had a meltdown since seeing Sasuke and she doesn't want it to resume—and oh, it certainly will—until she's in the privacy of her own quarters. But speaking of him is causing walls built in her chest to start to crumble, the foundations shaken to the very core.

"He broke in and demanded competent medical ninja. Assumedly to fix his eyes." Temari sighed, leaning back in her chair. Suddenly, Sakura felt dizzy. Her thoughts immediately went to her students, how one of them could've been taken, and how one of them could have their lives in the hands of a madman now. "We don't know how long it's been like that—none of our sources had reported damaged eyesight—but we sent Shi with him."

Sakura gaped openly, despite the relief she felt, knowing that her students—both the young and the old—were safe. "Just like that?" But when she saw a glint in the woman's eye—a look that was undoubtedly picked up from Shikamaru over the years—Sakura felt herself calm. "You have a plan."

"I do. And I can't tell you it."

"I know," Sakura swallowed thickly, blinking back tears that were slowly working their way out of the corners of her eyes, "it's okay."

Because despite their trust in Sakura and the role she played, she was still never permitted to hear about missions and plans put together that had to do with Konoha or Sasuke. And she understood, to an extent, that they couldn't be too careful and that the extra measures they took with her were merely precautionary, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less even after ten years.

Still, Sakura held in her tears and bit her tongue as Temari told her everything she could know, and her voice remained steady when she finished describing, in depth, her run-in with Karin. In the back of the head she knew that a meltdown was guaranteed once she made it back to her room.

Yet, minutes later when a bloodied Shikamaru just about kicked down the door, dragging an emaciated Kakashi through, Sakura's willpower was destroyed, the sight of his familiar, sickly face causing the tears to explode as she knelt before his body and began to do everything she could to stabilize him.

He was only conscious for seconds, just long enough to smile at Sakura—mask-less and bloody and so pitiful—and apologize in a scratchy voice. "Sorry I'm late."

It turned out the mission Shikamaru had been on with multiple others had been both a top-secret rescue and a retrieval mission. Brought back with them was Kakashi—broken out of the cell he'd been kept in, barely-alive for over a decade—Lee, Kurenai and her daughter, several barely-recognizable faces, and a few Hyuuga clan members, including Hinata's sister; her father, they would find out, along with the remaining clan heads, had been executed hardly a year ago.

No doubt that Sasuke would hear about their defection before he returned to Konoha.

"We're preparing for war," Shikamaru told her eventually after hours of tearful reunions and reconciliations, "we don't need them to keep an eye on Sasuke anymore. We need them here, to fight."

And over the course of the next several days Sakura watched as more and more strong, capable ninja from each and every village flooded to Suna.

"So what about me?" She asked one day while healing Kakashi, who hadn't woken up since his arrival days before. He was fragile in every sense and Sakura knew that despite what she was medically capable of he would never be restored back to his former glory again—only so much could be done up against years of torture and starvation. "Are you going to send me out in the village with the escort crews to help evacuate?"

She wasn't expecting him to answer with anything other than a 'yes', so when he shook his head, her concentration broke and her chakra completely fizzled from her hands.

"We need you for this," he told her quietly, not looking at her as he spoke; it was as if he really, really didn't want her there, but knew he had no other choice. "You give us the biggest advantage."

She returned to her room that night shaking and crying, the reality of it all sinking in.

They were going to use her to get to Sasuke, she knew this, she accepted this, and god did it hurt.

But she was going to let him. She hated him, feared him, and would happily live the rest of her life and never see him again, but despite it all—and even though she knew how stupid she was for doing so—she missed him.

She fell asleep that night with thoughts of Sasuke's dull eyes in her mind, and dreamt of a world where he hadn't become warped. A world where they lived happily with their son. A world where they wouldn't use her to kill him.

That morning she was woken up abruptly by a loud knocking on her door.

Before she could even get out of bed to answer it, it was thrown open—as the lock broke, Sakura sat straight up in bed—to reveal a very out-of-breath Hinata. "Sakura," she exhaled quickly before inhaling even quicker, "go to the front entrance, quickly. It's—"

In a flash Lee was there, slapping a hand over Hinata's mouth and staring at the woman with a look akin to horror. Sakura stared at the two of them, so taken aback by their sudden appearance and strange actions; she could barely hear the sound of others running toward her room as well. When she met Hinata's eyes and noticed the tears beginning to fall, a sob being held back by Lee's palm, and as she observed his downright terrified expression, she ran.

"Sakura-chan! No, wait—"

But she refused to stop, wait, or listen to anything that needed to be said. There was something in Hinata's eyes that drove Sakura to the front of the building quicker than she thought she was capable of. During her run she passed by both Kankuro and Temari who stared at her with horrified expressions as she smoothly and efficiently evaded them, continuing to run.

Whatever Hinata was trying to tell her was something that Sakura wasn't—under any circumstances—supposed to know.

And she'd be lying if she said she wasn't sick to death of her old friends and comrades keeping her out of things. But whatever this was had to have been important enough for Hinata to betray the trust of their friends and potentially sacrifice her position in the resistance.

"I just want to see her!" She heard the screaming before she saw anything. It sounded much like a child's tantrum; angry, desperate, and distraught. "Please! I have to see her! I know she's there!"

As Sakura pushed through a flurry of people, all of them muttering panicked statements toward one another—"what is he doing here?" "does Shikamaru have a plan?" "what do we do with him?" "it's only a matter of time now" "what if it's a trap?" "isn't he supposed to be dead?"—her eyes searched frantically for something. For the boy who was still screaming. For a hint as to what was going on. For anything.

"Give her back! Let me see her!" The pleading continued, and as Sakura found the back of Shikamaru's head—Shikamaru, who currently had someone in his shadow possession jutsu—she ran up to him, stopping only feet away when he yelled out.

"Sakura, get inside now!"

The shout caught her off guard—only once before in her life had she heard him yell and that was countless years ago; a painful memory of blinding pain and her baby's tears pulled at the edge of her mind—and caused her to stumble, suddenly unsure in her movements. But when the boy yelled once more, her mind was suddenly made up and time seemed to stand still.

"MOM!"

Her steps were unhurried as she walked toward him. She couldn't even hear as Shikamaru yelled at her and as a couple of ninja grabbed her by her arms and attempted to yank her back. Sakura merely channeled chakra into her feet, yanked her arms back to her sides, and continued to approach.

"It's probably a trap!"

"Don't let her near him!"

"Get back!"

Take him out! Do it now!

"He's just a kid!"

"If he kills her then we're fucked!"

"Stand down, stand down!"

Standing directly before Shikamaru was a young boy, perhaps ten years old, no older than twelve at the most, with bright red eyes and a mop of dark, messy hair. For a second Sakura swore she'd been sent back and time and was a young genin again—he looked just like Sasuke. But as red flashed into green and she found herself staring into eyes that were so similar to hers, it took her a long moment to realize what was going on. And when he called out again, his voice quieter this time, she suddenly came to her senses.

"Mom?"

His question was quiet and uncertain as he stared at her with wide glossy eyes, a particular recognition kicking in.

"Sakura don't—"

She approached the boy, walking around the shadow-wielder who was still holding the child in his jutsu. "Shikamaru," her voice was eerily calm, "If you don't let go of my son I'm going to kill you."

"Sakura—"

"Stop her!"

"Shikamaru, order?!"

The strategist sighed angrily, fury in his eyes and exhaustion etched into every inch of his face. Dropping the jutsu he turned toward the flurry of ninja and shook his head, standing back and allowing Sakura to see her son for the first time since he was a baby.

"Sora?" She hardly had time to whisper the name—that she hadn't spoken in almost a decade—before the boy threw himself at her, wrapping his arms around her. In reply to her call he only began to cry, his wail piercing through her very soul as she collapsed to her knees, her son finally in her arms after so long.

And it suddenly didn't matter that she'd been lied to, that her son—her baby—had been kept from her for all of these years. All that mattered was that she had her baby boy back, that he was there, and that he was real, as he clung to her and cried into her shirt.

She'd deal with her comrades' betrayal later. Instead, she allowed her heart to rip, tear, and repair itself again with every "mom" Sora sobbed brokenly.

"He knows I'm here."

Despite the fact that the room was filled with people, the boy paid none of the strangers any attention, instead only speaking to Sakura, who sat on the couch beside him as he clung to her hand tightly.

A rumble passed through the room as Shikamaru spoke up. "Is he on the way?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, he didn't see me leave. But he has to know I'm here. He heard Karin-san tell me about Mom."

Sakura's blood ran cold and she could see Shikamaru stiffen. No doubt in their minds: Karin was dead.

"Did he believe her?"

"I don't know," he repeated, shifting uncomfortably as he frowned, "I don't think so, 'cause when he walked in the room he looked mad. Really, really mad." He glanced quickly at Shikamaru before looking back at Sakura. "We're not supposed to talk about you—Dad gets angry. I left after that." He hesitated with his words, tapping his foot as he fidgeted—a habit that Sakura herself had—before he spoke again. "Do you think Karin-san is in trouble?"

The way he looked anxiously at Sakura made her heart clench.

"I know my dad's not a very good person," he spoke quickly, "I know he hurts people sometimes and I know that what he does—what he's doing isn't good." Sakura's eyes widened at the boys admission. "I ask him sometimes about why he does everything but he never answers me. Juugo-san says he's trying to fix things because the ninja world is broken, but I think Dad might be making things worse."

"You're a smart kid, Sora," Shikamaru told him, Sakura couldn't speak, her voice too thick with emotion to trust her voice so instead she squeezed his hand in agreement.

"When he comes here let me talk to him," he spoke loudly, releasing Sakura's hands and standing up, bowing toward Shikamaru, "I'm sure I can talk him out of hurting anyone—"

"I admire your willingness to do this, Sora, but there are going to be a lot of people out there fighting, and I don't want you to get caught up in—"

"No!" He lifted his head abruptly and shot the man a fearful look, "I can do it! Seriously! He'll listen to me! He's done it before! I just need a couple of minutes and—and I know that if he sees Mom he'll really listen and—"

"Sora," Sakura reached out and grabbed his hand again, urging him to sit back down—she could see the occupants of the room grow tense the louder the boy got; many fearful and distrustful despite his age. "We'll talk about it later, calm down."

"They need to let me—I have to—" and as his frustration grew Sakura could hear the tears in his voice. If the sight wasn't so heartbreaking to her she may have cracked a smile; he would inherit her propensity to cry while angry.

"It's okay," she whispered, pulling him close to her as the tears broke through, holding him against her chest while he whimpered. With protective eyes she watched as slowly everyone exited the room, leaving her and her son alone. "It's okay."

"I thought you were dead," he whispered to her that night from where he was laying in her bed, his head in her lap, green eyes closed. "We thought you were dead. Everyone did."

"I thought you were dead," she parroted his words, running her fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp, "they told me Sas—your father killed you."

He opened his eyes wide and stared up at her in disbelief. "Why would they do that?"

"I think that… they thought if I knew you were still alive, I'd want to go back. Or that I wouldn't be loyal."

"If…" he closed his eyes and turned his head away, as if trying to hide his hesitance at his next words, "if you knew that I was still alive, do you think that you would've come back?"

"Yes," she spoke quickly, turning his cheek back toward her, silently urging him to look her in the eyes, "I would have come back for you in a heartbeat."

"Even if it means betraying the resistance?"

Still without hesitation, she nodded, "Yes. Your life means more to me than anyone else's. It may be selfish of me to say that but I would've done—and still would do—literally anything to keep you safe.

"Okay," he whispered quietly, relaxing at her words.

After a long comfortable moment Sakura chewed on her lip lightly, biting back a sigh. "Sora," to speak her son's name—to him, no less—made a warm feeling come over her, "about what you said earlier. You said you've… stopped Sasuke—I mean—your dad from hurting people before."

He nodded confidently. "Yeah, kind of often. He hit me once on accident when I was smaller." At her look of horror he quickly explained. "Some lady spat on me and didn't know he was around, or watching; I didn't even know she'd spat on me, I didn't feel it. Before he could strike her I jumped in the way." He looked away from her, as if suddenly uncomfortable under her gaze. "I just, don't like it when he does stuff like that. He doesn't anymore though, really."

She was shocked by the words in the most confusing way possible.

For years now she'd just about buried her love for Sasuke beneath her resentment of his actions; mainly the fact that he'd supposedly killed their son had been the main driving point of her fury toward him. But knowing that Sasuke had been nothing but gentle toward their son—physically at least—caused her heart to flutter ever-so-slightly.

She didn't want to love him. She truly didn't. But she couldn't exactly help the way she felt.

Even if the man she was in love with was a homicidal tyrant; one who had apparently thought she was dead until recently.

"I think the reason we weren't supposed to talk about you," he spoke after a few silent minutes without being prompted, "was because it was too painful. He missed you but he wouldn't talk about you. I had to go to Lee-san and Mirai's mom to ask about what you were like."

She smiled softly then, leaning her head back until it was resting again the door. "Yeah? And what did they have to say."

Sora smiled as he spoke, "I think Lee-san was your biggest fan, probably."

Sakura laughed, and the feeling felt good. "You're right about that."

"And Kurenai-san told me all about how talented and smart and good you were. Karin-san didn't know you well but she acted like she respected you. I helped at the hospital sometimes and Shizune-san would tell me lots of stuff, too. She would say that even though you weren't technically her student, you were her favorite."

"I was her only 'student'," Sakura smiled, warmed at the sound of her old friends and comrades singing her praises after her 'death'.

"Dad definitely loved you."

He mustn't have noticed how she stiffened beneath him and when her hand stopped moving through his hair he continued to talk.

"I would ask him when I was really little and he would avoid the question, but I could tell," the boy smiled softly—he had his father's smile—and kept his eyes closed. "I think Dad's good at lying to everyone else, but I could always tell." He opened his eyes and looked into her own. "Did you love Dad?"

Her eyes softened just as her hand resumed moving through his hair and her body lost its tenseness. "Yeah," she rasped softly, chewing on the inside of her cheek, "I do."

If the child noticed her swap of tenses, he didn't show it.

Four days later, in the middle of the day, explosions sounded, interrupting a brief moment of bliss between Sakura and her son.

They'd been laughing over lunch, sitting together high up in one of the few trees that Suna had to offer, watching the last remnants of the civilians evacuate—mainly shop owners, and old, stubborn citizens that didn't want to leave their homes—when the shockwaves shook the thick oak they sat in.

Sakura watched from afar as smoke began to rise, just outside of the main entrance to the village, and when another explosion sounded, this one from inside the village—he's already here here's already in he's already passed the gates—she stood up abruptly, heart suddenly caught in her throat.

She knew what she was supposed to do now, that she was supposed to meet up with Shikamaru at the old Kazekage tower, but as she turned to do so, subconsciously reaching out for Sora, she watched as he instead jumped down and immediately headed straight for where the second explosion had gone off.

"Sora!" She screamed as loud as she dared—he's going to hear you he's going to come for you—jumping after him, scrambling to keep up with his sprint. "Sora, stop! We have to go back!"

"That's dad! I can tell by his chakra! It'll be okay!" Despite the nervousness in his green eyes there was the ghost of a smile on his face—the face of a child who missed their parent (despite their parent being a murderous tyrant).

But the child didn't seem to understand that Sakura did not share the same trust in Sasuke as he did. So instead he continued to run, carefully evading her each time she reached out for his arm, smiling at her excitedly and repeating over and over again "don't worry" "just trust me" "he'll be so happy you're alive".

His attempts at easing her worries only caused them to increase ten-fold, and when she finally managed to put herself in between Sora and his pathway—standing directly ahead of him, stance low, arms spread wide to keep him from running any further into the village—she allowed herself a moment of relief when the boy actually stopped.

The moment lasted a fraction of a second before the sound of a thousand birds screaming behind her caused her to freeze, her head filling up completely with static. As she stared into Sora's eyes she watched as his joy immediately transformed into horror, his mouth opening wide, and she found herself solely transfixed on the sight of his green eyes morphing into red sharingan.

"Dad, NO—"

But Sora could only move so fast and hit so hard, so when Sakura watched—not felt—as Sasuke's hand pierced through her shoulder instead of her chest, she was left stunned. Mainly, she was in awe of her young son's ability to move so quickly. The wound was incredibly serious, but if she activated her seal now, it would be nothing to worry about.

She didn't activate her seal though. Instead shock took hold of her and when she felt Sasuke's other hand grip her opposite shoulder before he roughly yanked his hand out of her body, she collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath.

"Dad no, stop! It's—no it's mom! It's her! She's not dead, she's—"

"Let's go."

Again, his words froze her completely. Sora continued to scream and Sakura could hear Sasuke struggle to grab hold of the boy and pull him away—back far out of reach from the battle that would undoubtedly level Suna entirely.

"Stop! We have to help her—"

"Sora," Sasuke's voice was firm, and Sakura could hear the frustration rising in it, "your mother is dead. She's been dead since you were a baby. These people killed her. They are trying to trick you. They are lying to you and you're falling for it. Now cut it out. You're leaving."

Sakura couldn't see but she could hear as Sasuke appeared to get a solid grip on Sora, because as he pulled the boy away—the child screaming and crying hysterically the entire time, fighting and struggling to reach her—their voices began to get farther away, and when Sora's crying turned into sobs, something inside Sakura snapped.

No, nothing snapped. A memory was released. A memory of Sora screaming as a baby. Sakura's last memory of him for ten years.

"Stop it," she mumbled under her breath as she stood, gathering her bearings enough to activate her seal, something she hadn't done since the fourth shinobi world war. "Sasuke-kun—" spitting some blood onto the sand she focused hard on the red stain, willing her senses to return, "stop. It's me." When Sora continued to struggle and scream and Sasuke continued to drag him away she inhaled as deeply as she could. "It's me!"

She turned around just in time to watch Sasuke come flying at her again. This time, despite being stunned, she was ready, and sidestepped a second chidori to the chest.

"DAD!" And Sora was there too, placing himself in between his father and Sakura at every opportunity. "Stop! It's really her! It is! Right, Mom? Tell him!"

"Sasuke-kun," the name fell clumsily from her lips but she forced the words through regardless, "it really is me. Look," pointing to her seal on her head, she then pointed to the whole in her shoulder that was slowly sealing itself up. There was no way he could doubt her authenticity now, when he watched as her cells regenerated themselves. "It really is me."

Despite the proof, he remained stubborn. "No. Sakura is dead. You're dead. Leave my son alone." And despite the pitiful words being the pleas of a man in denial, they absolutely infuriated her.

"No!" She screamed, finally placing herself in between Sora and Sasuke, no longer allowing her child to try and keep her safe, "he is my son, too!" She screamed, tears springing to her eyes. "Our son, Sasuke-kun. Our son." And when sobs began to eat away at her composure, she allowed them to. "Don't you remember? When I stayed up for days for him? When I didn't eat because he was so sick? When I cried all the damn time? When I refused to put him down and you—you didn't hold him once!" Falling to her knees and staring up at him through blurry eyes she only wanted to yell further but instead she attempted to glare at him, failing even with that.

And as soon as the recognition—the unbridled acceptance—flashed through his eyes, Sakura closed her own and allowed her body to give out. She would've fallen onto her face completely if Sasuke hadn't caught her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her onto her feet.

And when she opens her eyes again he's looking at her. Not through her, not past her, but actually at her. And in those eyes she sees the same emotion she saw so many years ago when she knew that he was still there—her old Sasuke-kun—despite what he wanted everyone to think. So she simply cried as she stared him in the eyes, watching as every emotion she ever wanted to see from him flickered through his eyes in mere seconds.

But that was all she saw.

The end of both Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura is so anti-climactic it doesn't seem real.

Sakura doesn't even get the opportunity to see who kills her, but when the blade pierces her back—and she's not even sure if it's actually a blade; it could be an elemental jutsu simply shaped that way—her entire body pulses with pain once and immediately goes numb.

In her mind she knows he could've seen it coming if it wasn't for her, and she knows he would've been able to drop her and dodge it, but for some reason he doesn't and instead allows it to penetrate him as well. It strikes her just below the base of her neck, directly between the tops of her shoulders, and it strikes him in the dead center of the chest.

The jutsu expands, destroying tissues and organs and causing blinding, absolutely incomparable pain (if judging by the noises Sasuke makes, clearly not paralyzed on impact like her), before it completely vanishes, leaving both of them with giant gaping holes in their bodies, and pints of blood spilling out of them with every passing second.

Sasuke never once releases her, and when they both collapse to the ground, a mess of blood and half-exposed, half-destroyed organs, she can't feel him and her eyes can't focus on anything but she knows that she's lying on top of him.

Sakura thinks, as she feels her life slip away, that death isn't as painful as she feared; she's sure that she's felt worse or perhaps even equal levels of pain throughout her career as a shinobi.

It's the sound of Sora's cries that makes death unbearable. The sound of him screaming his throat raw and fighting off the ninja that attempt to collect him and bring him away.

Sakura finds that her last thoughts are filled with nothing more than maternal worry. She hopes Sora doesn't kill anyone in his despair and she hopes he isn't killed along with them. She'd die a thousand deaths if it meant he'd live through this.

And when the blackness consumes her and she's left with countless questions that will never be answered and 'what-if's that will never be contemplated, she still doesn't feel an ounce of regret for falling in love with—and subsequently staying in love with—Uchiha Sasuke.