Epistles to the Departed

Three syllables, a word, a name. It may as well been the first time that his voice had pronounced them without a speck of hate- or maybe an ounce of expression.

"Sakura.."

A word meaning of the flowers which had lived too shortly, fallen too early- a fragile and fleeting blossom bruised by the simplest touch. Yet none of these words described her, no, at least not now- but instead the man who had spoken it.

A name which probably held no meaning to the man who had spoken it.

A person who probably held no meaning to the man who had called her name-

When her eyes began to part from their dried, rheumy mucus, Haruno Sakura could only wish to scream- but to her dismay, found herself unable to do so. Her throat was dry and her tongue cracked, she craned her neck and stared up into the dust of the sky and remembered.

Everything. But everything didn't matter when this was happening.

Sasuke's sunken-in eyes were halfway lidded, his mouth dryly moving to match barely unspoken words. Each movement of his lips seemed to sting- the corners ripped and shriveled, skin flaking off, begging to be peeled. Every tug and syllable seemed to tear a bit more skin each time. "I'm sorry.. for everything." he croaked, as if the things he said were blades digging into his neck. His words were scratchy and unharmonized, like if multiple people had been speaking at the same time- a badly coordinated chorus. Did it hurt so much to apologize?

Though almost in-cognizable in tone, there was a valid feeling stuffed into those words- a voice of truth within the lies of his past- that expressed an emotion Sakura would have never expected from him. Regret.

During her youth, perhaps it was this that she had pleaded each day and night for- the holiday gift too expensive for such a poor heart- but today, as the changed woman, no longer the girl he left behind, the expected fluttering of butterflies and redness growing in the tips of her cheeks were mere mounds of salty water flash-flooding her eyes until the point that her vision had receded to blurriness.

Despite the utter silence spare for the way every breath of his sounded like breaking glass- she couldn't help but feel as if a swarm of birds were cawing incessantly around her- a tornadic discordance to fill every inch of her mind. The sunrise fading blue to a vivid orange only seemed to shade the darkest night sky. Lukewarm blood still poured out of where his arm used to be... the very same one that had taken the life of so many...

Her gaze flashed to Naruto, his unmoving, unresponsive figure. She wanted to reach for him- hold him, say it was alright... but her legs were kept glued on the ground, kneeling before the dyin- critically injured Uchiha. Even the arms with the strength to shatter mountains to dust lay limp against her bare and blistered feet, incapable of doing anything at all.

Was this justice? Is this the divine punishment he gets because he did all this?

Change this, Sasuke- please, just change this.

"Sakura.." Sasuke repeated, this time even more inaudibly then the last. She then noticed the dried streaks of blood on his mouth again; this time, however, joined by newer bouts of the metallic liquid. "Take... m.."

How could Uchiha Sasuke look so.. soft? He was anything but. The Sasuke that claimed to want to become Hokage was unbelievable, and the Sasuke that tried to kill her was unpardonable, but this Sasuke.. lying out on his last moments, practically begging for forgiveness(by his regressively antisocial standards... ha...) was just...

"Shut up.." she breathed. "Just shut up."

It sufficed.

(But it was too late.)

________________________________

The world had not reacted well when news first hit, recalling Naruto Uzumaki's untimely death under the callous hands of his nemesis to be an "absurd tragedy". A statue had been set over the Hidden Leaf's horizon; the top of the Kage Mountain, above Minato Namikaze's Rushmore-esque depiction, stood a lone shinobi made of stone.

The Child of Prophecy had saved the world and finished his duty in a climatic battle with his final foe, and concluded his story. No sequels there. Jiraiya would be proud.

Sasuke's name was spat over and cursed upon- dubbed the "most ruthless man of all of shinobi history"- words of ill-wished gossip were commonplace throughout the nations for at least the following six months.

At least he achieved one goal. There hadn't been any battles between shinobi villages since. There hadn't been this much peace in years. There hadn't also been such a unified hatred for a single entity since- well, perhaps the Rabbit Goddess herself?

So Sasuke might've been right...?

Like his previous incarnation, Madara, he'd thought peace could only be achieved through evil.

And to her dismay, she found her eye was one of those things that kindled the fire. Whilst her dear friends comforted her for her decision, the strangers and passerby gave cruel stares, and the press gave no hesitance to blasphemies the fact that Sasuke Uchiha had no intention of ever saving the people of Konoha, and would've left them to rot if it had not been for Naruto's intervention.

Rumors came and went, and Sakura could recognize the truth that had carried between some that did manage to reach her unwilling ears. It was kind of ironic that the rumors spread like wildfire in a village called the Hidden Leaf. "He tried to murder the woman who loved him five times," (usually followed by "That chick was a psycho for liking such a guy anyway") or "He killed his auto-genocidal brother, only to find out he'd saved him against orders", for example, were more or less true.

How prudent of her? 'Loved' was not how she would've stated it, but nonetheless, it was true.

The way it had been delivered to her proved it to have degenerated into a fragmented story, however. It had been, in truth, three times and each occurrence was a benefactor of her own accord.

The first time, she approached him with fury in her burning emerald eyes- a flawed grin plastered on her features like a mask, a lie of her willingness to betray to Konoha being uttered with noticeable amounts of disdain being the only evidence that her actions would not betray her words. She was no talented liar. In seconds, his Chidori teetered dangerously close to contacting her back, the once-black pupils of his eyes now a burning red-and-purple. If it had not been for Kakashi, she would've died.

The second time was more or less alike. When his calloused fingers grew tight over her windpipe, she showed nothing but murderous intent towards him- kunai tucked in a pocket, already in the rage of a battle. Naruto, this time, was the shining white knight who swept Sakura off of her reigns.

The third had been a figment of her own perception- a genjūtsu. His fist, punching cleanly through the base of her chest, exiting through the ridge of where her shoulder blades had been- it "had touched her heart". But as she came to, she did not find herself in a heavenly garden, nor a blazing inferno demanding her repent. It was the same, dirt-colored panorama that refused to change, even through her ire and fatigue-intoxicated vision.

On the contrary, the rumor about Itachi was more on-the-mark.

After Danzo's death, Tsunade released his Root ANBU files to Sakura, placing her under orders to investigate(alongside Shikamaru) the (even more)secretive underground version of her local Black Ops. From the array of case files, she began fishing for familiar names. Through the hoard, one stood out- a dusty looking one, hiding in the corner. As she picked it up, blowing away the gray fuzz, she noticed there had been a photograph paperclipped to the righthand corner. She recognized the face immediately; weasel-like features, recognizable wrinkles, a striking resemblance to her Sasuke(not to be confused with Sandaime's father)- 'Uchiha Itachi'.

She consulted Shikamaru before opening the file. The man shrugged lazily but continued to read from his own pick(which was a complete anthology of the interrelations between Konohagakure and Sunagakure). She sniggered, the first thought popping to her head being 'Temari'- the Kazekage's older sister, who, she assumed Shikamaru had taken a liking to. But the boy did not respond in the slightest, which was more of a testament to his laziness rather than proof that the reason of his erudition was merely a speculative desire for insight, instead of a passionate love for his dear Temari.

But as she skimmed over the papers concerning the man who had originally owned her left eye, (feeling some oddly placed guilt as she realized she was basically using the dead guy's eye to read private stuff about him; not that a dead man could denounce repercussions, but judging by experience, if Orochimaru cooked up his Edo Tensei again, she would be done for.) she came across a small passage underneath his confidential details.

'Name : Uchiha Itachi

Date of Birth : 5/9/19XX

Blood Type : AB

Height : 157cm at final mission, about 180cm current (estimate)

Age : 13 at final mission, 21 current

Immediate Family : Uchiha Mikoto(mother), Uchiha Fugaku(father), Uchiha Sasuke(brother)

Affiliation :'

Sakura paused as she saw a large scribble over what seemed to say 'Uchiha Clan; heir of Main Family. ANBU Captain.' Next to the obscured text, a burning red font detailed what she had known him as.

'S-Class Missing Nin, Akatsuki. Suspected to be partnered with Kisame Hoshigaki*

Registered Ninja # : 012110

Assignments Completed : 53 D-Rank, 152 C-Rank, 134 B-Rank, 0 A-Rank, 1 S-Rank**

*See : Kirigakure no Kaijin, in section 'S-Class Missing-nin of Kirigakure' and 'Akatsuki Members'

**Details on Pg. 12'

She flipped through the papers one-by-one, taking note that they had been out-of-order. Page twelve was more like page four.

'Uchiha Massacre

Assigned to : Uchiha Itachi*

*Sidenote : Shisui Uchiha had planned to use his (scribbled) (Outcome : Fail; assignee has perished due to (scribbled))

Commissioner :'

Marked out with black. No surprise there.

Wait. 'Assigned to'? What could that possibly entail? She almost shut the binder closed and moved on, but she was too curious to let the chance pass. It was a strenuous battle of heart and mind, but Sakura eventually let the feline desire get to her.

'Mission Outcome : Success

Objective : Stop the coup d'etat by eliminating the Uchiha Clan.'

Her mouth made an 'o' as she felt the waves of shock reverb through her. Itachi wasn't the violent, sociopathic monster she made him out to be, no- this didn't give her the full picture, of course, but she could assume. Itachi was ordered to kill his family, spared Sasuke and urged him to surpass him so that he could untarnish the Clan name. And yet she had wondered why Sasuke had suddenly mourned his brother after years of being hellbent over taking his revenge. And she understood.

He wanted only for the best for his young otoutou, going against the Council's orders to swipe the whole of the Uchiha Clan under the rug once and for all. Not only that, but Itachi then joined a criminal organization just to become someone that his brother could kill in exchange for bringing honor to his former clan once again.

Sakura had thought of him a scummy traitor who had destroyed her dearest Sasuke-kun's life and tortured him with gory visions at the tender age of 7- but after piecing the jigsaw puzzle that was Itachi Uchiha, came to understand why he did what he did.

She hoped Sasuke had felt fully compensated after he finally became reunited with his deceased older brother, notwithstanding the form of an Edo Tensei killing machine. Not that she would ever know.

(And that was something she refused to accept.) Deep in her heart, she would not yield the passionate flames that burnt for her friends. What would it take to just see them once again? To feel their sturdy arms around hers once more, in a tentative (given that one of them had been Sasuke) but meaningful group embrace?

Tell them she was sorry for being such a failure; for letting them die?

There were options to remedy their unfortunate fates- Edo Tensei, but that which would have been not without human sacrifice (she would volunteer to be the penance for the ritual but Naruto would probably hold a grudge on her for leaving them) and her Six Paths of Pain.

If the gods had warranted their forthcoming to the lands above, then wasn't it her duty- as a doctor- to accept things as they came? She was not able to save every patient. Period.

It wasn't this what made her weak- it was that she needed the crutches of their presence to feel worth anything. She declared she was 'strong,' but she still needed them with her?

After some time, Sakura abandoned the idea that she should revive them completely, scrabbling the wishful dreams of reconciliation. She left it at that- a coming forethought that would be subsequently rejected, stamped, and shoved into a 'Classified' folder in the corners of her psyche.

Life would move back into place, in slow, languid paces, (but it would never be the same without them.)

Sakura looked out her window, the blossoms of newfound spring beginning to bloom upon her backyard. New chrysanthemums from Ino, a few roses that her mother had bought, some local, unidentifiable flowers laid dormant in huddles of tiny, multi-chromatic arrays of buds.

The breeze brought with it, new, and feudal smells, from the familiar sweetness of her namesake to the indecipherable scents of fresh food being prepared in houses nearby.

It had been three winters since the end of the Fourth Shinobi War, so, naturally, the destroyed scenery had slowly, but surely, mended itself(much like the seasons themselves). The ruined, smashed-in buildings were reconstructed and the casualties' families mourned swiftly, so eventually, Konoha's previously decimated morale were painted over with new light despite how agony of war still lingered in the closeted shadows of the populace's minds.

During Naruto's funeral service; which had been a public ceremony, she noticed Hinata had not been crying- which was a rare sight because it had concerned the object of the Hyūga heiress's amor- so Sakura approached her with open arms, perhaps wondering if she had snapped or forced herself to repress the painful memory.

"Hinata-san, are you.. okay?" Sakura asked, pursing her lips; trying to be delicate. "You seem, different, today." she looked back to empty eyes- Hinata's violet orbs were devoid of expression, but her mouth donned a knowing smile.

"I'm fine, Sakura-san." Hinata replied, her petite hands brushing against Sakura's unstrained (which was something she slowly grew accustomed to, ever since the war had left her permanently on-guard) biceps. "Um.. did N-Naruto-san say anything before.. he.."

'died,' she assumed. After some careful rumination, Sakura opened her mouth, inhaling deeply before she began. "...No, I didn't even get to see it myself." Was it so conceited to say the truth? Instead of telling her that he had been 'happy, smiling, regretless and daring, even as he faced his impending demise'? The Sakura before- no, even during the war, would've lied for Hinata's sake(as they said, 'with a fake tug at her lips and eyes like open windows on a winter's blizzard flurry')- but the new Sakura somehow felt differently. "Though, from what I've seen, personally... he died valiantly, Hinata-san. He gave himself up so we could live."

The Hyūga's brows drooped, the façade of indifference melting away like the soft December snow that would follow soon after. "T-thank you, Sakura-san." she responded with a candid demeanor, her grasp tracing down to Sakura's wrist from where it had been.

She looked as if she had realized something- that something, perhaps, was that Naruto would've wanted nothing more than the shy heiress to leave his legacy at that, and pick up her own pieces instead. "It's okay. I.. know Naruto would've appreciated it." ('It', being your love.) "That I told you."

All this time, Hinata refused to meet Sakura's gaze- maybe it had been Sasuke's eye that had intimidated her- well, it should. It was the eye of the person who had mercilessly slaughtered Naruto- and thank karma, perished in the process. Yes, that eye currently belonged to a dear friend of hers- but that made the struggle greater, if anything. Sakura's innocent, rosy cheeks, tainted by the darkness of the deceased Uchiha.

Tsunade came forth to the stand, her speech reverberating over the audience. "Uzumaki Naruto was, in life, a rash individual. Son of Namikaze Minato, our fourth Hokage- and Uzumaki Kushina, the former jinchūriki of the Ninetails; he never saw his parents and endured a childhood of neglect and verbal abuse. Despite his rough upbringing, he valued others over all else, which is an honorable quality. He was a boy I took great interest in- he always seemed to be destined for great things. Unfortunately, his life was cut short by his ex-teammate, fittingly, at the Valley of the End, where Madara Uchiha and the Shodaime-sama fought their final battle."

The rest of her sensei's words passed Sakura's ears like foreign patois; she felt the hot vibration of her suppressed guilt pound through her ribs- not because of the snow or the icy temperatures, but the guilt. "-and I conclude this obituary with the fact that Naruto shall be remembered in Konoha's history as a figure of legend. I truly mourn his passing, and so shall the rest of our village. His sacrifices will not go unnoticed."

It was a closed casket ceremony- Naruto's face was concealed under a protective barrier of wood, a bouquet of flowers to match each side of the box. Ino's family(or what was left of it) had supplied a great deal of the floral arrangements for the funeral, which, Sakura had fully appreciated on his behalf.

When her turn had finally came, she hesitated, letting a slow gulp pass through her throat before beginning. "I knew.. Naruto, since he was a young boy in the Academy." Sakura murmured, a low gurgle of heartache following her statement. "He was.. he never gave up on anyone. Even when Sasuke tried to cut him down.. me, our sensei, Naruto continued to support his best friend. I think Naruto connected to Sasuke on a different level than the rest of us did. They both could relate to their unfortunate, formative years.. and Naruto, even when he seemed down, would always retaliate with an uplifting grin. His dream to become the Hokage might of not been fulfilled, but he has always been like one to m- us. He truly deserved his title as the 'Sun of Konoha'."

"To be a Hokage," she breathed, letting the cold air form mist around her lips. "He said, wasn't to become the strongest or the fastest of the bunch. He said it was the love one had for their village and the willingness to throw one's life on the line for it was what mattered. And Naruto has shown us that he truly cared about Konohagakure, even to his dying days. That is why."

Sakura cried bitter tears that day. She did not mind that the bulk of the village had watched her outburst intently, with pitying frowns and swells of empathy in their chests. She had failed Naruto. The Naruto who would never achieve his sole goal in life.

Because she didn't arrive in time to save him.. even when he always did.

But that was three winters ago, and now, Sakura was 20. Two decades of hardship and espionage had left her scarred, both of body and soul. She confided in 'What ifs' and 'Could have's, but their novelty had worn off throughout the years. Like she had promised herself, she never got over Naruto's death; but the sting was now dull, like a paper cut or bruise she did not know she had. The blame she crowned upon her head and paraded had become monotonous and less.. spirited. "I deserve to be in their place! I should've kept a close eye on them!" became "I can't help but inculpate myself, even if there wasn't much I could've done." to, finally, "I regret their loss as if it were their blood on my hands."

Ever since then, the Uchiha Compound had been donated to charity, (well, more specifically, the Uchiha Manor. The Compound itself was delegated to other homeowners since.. the 'Thing'.) and Naruto's home(after Yamato had remade a perfect copy with his rebuilding wood release) came under Sakura's possession(since Tsunade-sama had been the one lucky enough to be bequeathed his property)- which she vowed to keep as intact as it had been. The national hero's home was something the community would cherish for years to come.

She, as well, grew number to the freshness of the anniversary of the deaths of so many each passing fall. It wasn't grief just over the loss of her best friends, but for the entire society. Many had given their lives for the sake of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

Since then, good things hadn't failed to happen. She was promoted to the Assistant Director of Hospital in Konoha, and operated a children's wing, which she founded by herself. There was pioneering technology on nerve restoration (based on Might Gai's treatment) and the re-use of somatic cells (following how Tsunade used her chakra to remain youthful)in order to rejuvenize deteriorating organs. Hashirama's cells were a big part of the hospital's regime, considering their properties made them amazing candidates for becoming prosthetics. And since the Ninja way meant even lacking a single limb would hinder their performance, it was a popular method in face of retirement.

Ino had gone off to form/strengthen the pharmaceutical branch of the hospital, being a medic nin herself. Her previous knowledge on herbs and flowers led her to become a good pharmacist, being certainly more than competent enough to operate a medicinal supply department. Life was 'good'.

Not to be angsty, but they still had scars, physically and mentally. Maybe they didn't hurt like open wounds but their existence reminded her of pain that was once present. So, correction, it was as good as it would get, after suffering through the devastation war had presented them. To shinobi of her shishou's age, this was their third war. There were some, like the Tsuchikage, who had experienced all four. She had great respect for those veterans who kept pushing, despite their old age and trauma.

Ino had always told her that the number of patients coming in, being prescribed with medicine for depression or PTSD had been on the rise since the end of the war- that being, compared to before it. Even Sakura took the occasional sleeping pill to help her get a good night's rest.

She was still happy, though, because the people who had stayed with her made her joyous all the same. She cursed herself to never completely accept that Naruto could not be saved, after all, and a decree she betrothed herself with on his deathbed was one she planned to uphold.

She sighed deeply- and the blossoms flew ahead scattered mid-air before her. "Sakura!" her mother called from the kitchen.

"Coming, mom," she responded, closing the window.

________________________________

Naruto's red scarf.

It was a chilly winter day, snow falling in gentle waves.

Alas, she was too timid to stop the bullies from destroying it.

But he never stopped grinning.

"See you later!" he saluted, before running off into the whiteness of the snow-swept forest.

--

Iruka-sensei had written today's assignment on the board. "If the world was ending today, who you could spend the day with?"

Naruto had struggled with it, in particular. He had no Kushina or Minato to coddle him, nor did he have friends to support him. Who else did he have but himself? "Eeh, Iruka-sensei! The world's not gonna end!"

"It's hypothetical, Naruto!"

Hinata smiled, etching 'Naruto Uzumaki' fondly into her paper.

--

She wasn't even there when his world had ended.

And yet he had been grinning all the same.

--

The Hyūga woman crumbled to her knees, pressing her face against the familiar Uzumaki Clan symbol on the upper middle half of the military-green door.

Years had passed since Naruto Uzumaki died. But the gash had refused to heal.

--

The dream had ended, as the deep rings purple in her eyes faded back into a solid pallid violet. The blue encasing around her unraveled, as if they were bandages. Hinata was pirouetted back into harsh reality- the destruction before her left a detestable bitterness in her mouth. Neji was dead, Naruto was not her lover, and Hiashi still thought her useless.

As she was released (and subsequently fell to the ground) she did not see the beautiful Konoha as it had been, but a half-demolished wreck. After standing stupidly at the sight, Hinata shook her head lightly, blank expression beginning to deteriorate to a worried frown.

She looked around to see her two teammates, Kiba and Shino, recovering from the effects of the Tsukuyomi themselves. The Inuzuka was more visibly shaken, but the bug-loving nin was probably stunned all the same. As she approached them, Kiba's expression brightened and Shino seemed to be more aware. Moments later, Kurenai showed up behind them, the pregnant woman being assisted by some dazy-looking Hospital employees.

"Hinata-chan! You're okay! I'm so glad we're all outta this mess-" Kiba's overly-relieved tone scared her for a moment, but honestly. The whole of Konoha had nearly died- while her teammates knew not to be too socially aggressive to her, this was too much of an emotionally taxing scene to even ask them to control themselves. She, too, was excited under her sobby exterior. Excited to see Kiba- excited to see Kurenai-sensei- excited to see Shino- excited to see N.. Sakura's pink hair was like an eyesore (in a good way!) in the hoard of blacks-and-browns. Hinata's eyes trailed mindlessly to her distant face, and was horrified to see that it had been smeared with blood. Her sleeve was torn out and her arm was burnt. She looked like she was about to slump over unconscious.

"Y-yeah," Hinata agreed innocuously, tearing her gaze away from Sakura's injuries. "Kurenai-sensei.. You should go back to the hospital.."

"Hinata, you know I just awoke from the Tsukuyomi like everyone else." she explained heartily. "I needed to see if you all were alright. I wouldn't be able to sleep soundly without knowing that."

Kiba 'awwed' before the teammates shared a joyous group-hug before breaking apart from each other. The happiness could not last long as Hinata's gaze wandered its ways back to Sakura's face. Upon closer inspection, she could make out that Sakura's left eye was..

The same shade of mauve as Pein's..

The blue-haired woman approached Sakura, hesitant in her steps. Strangely enough, Sakura was not surrounded by a group of her friends, nor beaming at the fact that the world had been saved. She clutched a fist close to her chest, looking meek at the sight of her friend.

"Sakura-san.. your.." Hinata trembled, referring to the blood on the left half of the pinkette's face. The kunoichi in question responded with sharply whipping her head away from the other girl's. "T-that means.. I'm so sorry.." She guffawed for a moment, observing the tomoe that spun around her left eye's rings. No other Rinnegan did that besides Sasuke's Rinne-Mangekyou-Sharingan hybrid eye.

Sasuke must've.. because Sakura.. how..? And that left Naruto-

"It's okay," the pinkette had replied, her voice husky. "No- I'm okay," she corrected, knowing that it really wasn't all that fine.

Ino approached Sakura from behind, pulling the kunoichi into a headlock. "Forehead! You're okay," she cried, her bleach-blonde hair flying around. Sakura flinched in surprise, but began to tremble. "Sa-ku-ra?"

"I.. ugh, Ino.." Sakura began to shake violently. "I'm.. yeah. But, ...g-gah," with a haggard, rough growl, the pinkette pushed off her friend. "Naruto's.. he's-" turning to face Hinata, Sakura's gaze warmed, as if asking her to brace herself.

"He's de-dead, and Sasuke.. he's also... Both of them," Sakura spoke mournfully, breaking the news- causing any nin in earshot to roar with shock. Within seconds, the blonde(by association) and the pink-haired woman were shrouded with questions.

Kakashi interfered soon enough, separating the crowd to the best of his ability. When that failed, he volunteered himself up as a witness to the whole scene.

Hinata froze completely, feeling the blood leave her face.

"Naruto-kun is.." she whispered through her teeth, biting her bottom lip as hard as she could. As Sakura parted from the crowd, Ino following suit, she shot a regretful look back at her.

"Kami, I'm sorry, Hinata." Sakura begged, her arms now straddling against Ino's shoulders, as a crutch. "There wasn't anything I could do.. I arrived too late..."

Ino looked devastated, too, but she remained unspoken for. Hinata looked at where Sakura had been standing.. and it was obvious why she had been left in solitude. There was a.. no, two bodies, covered in thin, ugly gray sheets. A maroon stain had been dried onto the sides of their lumps, the contours of their chins almost skin-tight, based on how flimsy the fabric was.

Hinata felt the bile rise in her throat. She collapsed like a fragile pillar of glass that had been smashed through with a hard mallet. A sour taste began to throttle through her mouth, and Hinata, despite falling into the puddle, scouring her pants a lighter color, tainted by the chunky mud, managed to cover her mouth to catch the vomit that hurled forward. Naruto was... he wasn't dead, no, Hinata, you're only imagining it. Sakura doesn't mean that he died. But it didn't stop.

Her hand fails to contain all the intestinal rejections that poured like a waterfall and mixed into a slightly brighter beige in the dirt below, and Sakura and Ino averted their gazes from the pitiful girl. Reduced to a shaking, broken doll who could barely breathe through the whirlwind of emotions paralyzing her, she was pitiful.

Naruto-kun isn't dead, you're seeing things.

No. Neji-nii was right.

It couldn't be. No.. please...

I love you.

--

Hinata whispers into the door, the teardrops staining the door with a saline trail. "Naruto-kun.." how I wish you would open this door and tell me everything is fine... that you didn't really die back then.

As if someone had listened and granted her wish, the door creaked open, pushing Hinata away. A sudden feeling of joy rushed through Hinata as she anticipated a blonde man awkwardly rubbing his sleepy blue eyes, yawning. 'Hinata-chan, did you have a bad dream?' he would say and whisk her away.

But instead, she was greeted by a pinkette with a very emerald set of eyes.

"Hinata, why are you crying?" Sakura asked, her lips thinning in confusion.

Hinata Hyūga was standing in her doorstep- well, it was Naruto's home, so his doorstep.

"I.. I-I ended up making Naruto a scarf," she answered, sniffing away with each, shaky inhale. "E-even tho-ough he's n-n-n-ever.. c-coming b-back.." In her hands, surely, there was a confection of the Hyūga's love for her former teammate- a red, hand-knitted scarf, large in size.

"Oh. That's why you didn't answer me when I asked whether or not you were knitting.." It was the fourth winter since his death, and she still grieved like it had been just the other week.. in typical Hinata fashion. "I guess you can't control your compulsions.. do you want me to prescribe you anti-depressants?" Sakura added, quite seriously. "It's not healthy for you to react that way. It's almost been half a decade since.. that."

"I-I'd like to... move on, too," Hinata blubbered, her face now buried into the velveteen cloth that she scrunched up within her grasp. "B-but whenever.. I.. whenever I see his birthday coming up, I get this su-udden urge to.. so I worked on th-his since October.. b-but.."

It had been so, so much harder to convince Hinata to leave behind the events of the past. Sure, Kakashi-sensei had, too, adamantly rejected any sort of forceful removal from a biweekly visit to his student's grave, and Sai would, in his own, socially-dejected way, grieve daily in the form of his bittersweet paintings (usually depicting a fox and a raven), and the rest of the Rookie 9 would blank involuntarily whenever Naruto's or Sasuke's names were mentioned, but Hinata...

"W-aahhh, Sakura, I-I just.." burying her navy-blue hair into Sakura's chest, Hinata began to tremble uncontrollably. "..I was going to b-become strong, to d-die for Naruto, because I-I.."

"I understand," Sakura deadpanned. "how that feels, Hinata. But, do you remember what I said?"

"H-huh?" Hinata's face rose from Sakura's dampened bosom, her pearly eyes shimmering with fresh tears.

"Back at his funeral. I said he would've appreciated it, if I told him." the pinkette paused, letting the other girl linger on the thought. "What do you think I meant?"

"I.. I'm terribly sorry," Hinata murmured, equipped without an appropriate response. She could vaguely remember something Sakura had said five years ago, but she hadn't yet figured out what she had truly meant. "...I.."

"I meant that Naruto would've appreciated your feelings." she huffed, brushing herself off. "I know he ignored you, but that's only because he was Naruto. He was as dense as concrete." she quipped, stupidly grinning at the thought of Naruto being capable of perceiving romance. "You couldn't really get to him directly, that Naruto. He always needed someone else to tell him, in that sort of stuff."

"I know it's kinda weird to mention this now. Naruto was kinda all.." she cringed, a stiff grin beginning to form on the corner of her mouth. "He didn't 'love me', though!" Sakura continued, and she saw the Hyūga's face twist in puzzlement. "I know he was pretty open about that.. but he only saw me as a sister, you know? In the end? And Naruto's thing for me was a way of competing with Sasuke." (Though she wasn't sure why Naruto would think of snubbing Sakura as a way of getting to his lifelong rival, seeing as the Uchiha took no interest in her at all. But then again. This was Naruto they were talking about.) ...

(And the fact that her jaded monologue seemed to attain to both boys.)

Hinata's sobs drew to silence. Even though she was much to polite to insinuate that it had pleased her in any way, Sakura knew the girl enough to notice a subtle change in her behavior. "..Sakura... I'm su-ure, that, even Uchiha-san.." But her sentence was cut short by an unexpected hug.

"No more words, Hinata." Sakura cooed, letting the poor girl hide the safety of Naruto's house.

________________________________

"You're asking me to s-sleep over?" Hinata's voice was drawn and cautious. "Why..?"

"Hinata, it's about time you learn about the real Naruto." Sakura declared. "How better," she said as she sat on the side of a dark-grey couch, hands knotted in a swift movement of her forearms. "Than to hear it from a member of Team 7 herself?"

The rest of the night was drawled over with a continuous storm of Sakura's verbal memoirs; from the bell test to the mission in the Land of Tea, to the fights with Sasuke and Obito's sacrifice. How pervy and demented Naruto was, was a fact Hinata took little surprise to- much to the adverse reaction of Sakura. "I liked everything about N-naruto-kun," she blushed, a folded fist hiding the mumble escaping her lips. The fragmented pieces of Naruto's life that Hinata held within her began to align and illustrate a bigger picture. As the dawn grew fast approaching, Sakura ushered the other woman to Naruto's old bed, while she took the couch(which had been surprisingly easy, even with Hinata's self-sacrificing tendencies).

As she was leaving her friend, she heard a thundering noise outside. Bright light filled the entire house, and the ground shook.

"Wha-" she screamed, looking outside the window. 'What was that just now?' Hinata barged out of the room, breathless.

"Sakura! What- what- was that.. light?" she looked beyond startled. The two bolted out of the house to get a better look.

People were panicking, Naruto's former neighbours were also beginning to open their own doors, appalled looks on their faces. "It's a meteor!" someone called. "We're all gonna die!" everything was brought to chaos.

It took ten minutes for the Police Force to calm the commotion. "The proximity of the asteroid to Konoha was too far away for damage. There probably won't be another one," an officer said, robotically. "Please calm down and return to your homes. We have this under control."

Sakura and Hinata exchanged concerned looks, but knew fixing whatever damage caused by the 'meteor' was out of their power. And they were high ranking kunoichi, well known for their feats, but trying to help quench the thirst for knowledge from the uproar-ing villagers was out of their capabilities. She would about talk to this to Kakashi tomorrow.

The pair returned into the house, Sakura offering a new toothbrush to Hinata as well as one of Naruto's old shirts to wear. The other girl's face turned completely red and she began to melt into the floor, but Sakura coughed out loud. "Hinata.."

"S-sorry!" she replied hastily, before taking the shirt off into the bathroom and closed the door. Sakura heard a ravenous brushing noise- probably Hinata trying to take her mind off the fact that the shirt she was going to wear to sleep was Naruto's- Naruto's- oh god it's Naruto's.

The emerald-eyed shinobi excused herself from Naruto's bedroom (since it was adjoined to the bathroom that had no other entrance) and out into the living room/kitchen hybrid, which featured a black couch. Naruto's singular bed was.. yeah, awkward for two, whether they were good friends with no romantic tension to begin with or not.

Sakura stared at the beige ceiling, tinted a mixture of navy and purple by the aura of the dwindling streetlights. The little amount of self-hate she harbored suddenly evaporated- as if telling Naruto's story was the only way her best friend could rest peacefully, and by doing so, a curse had been lifted. "Every detail." she whispered, before letting the darkness furl around her.

________________________________

"This time."

"I'm going to save you, Naruto."

"I was always crying," she breathed, her body pulsing with anticipation. She formatted to her signature stance, palms outstretched in an offensive array. "..and giving up before even trying. I made so many wrong turns." she admitted, the harshness in her voice directed to fiend before her. Naruto was pinned on the ground behind them- helpless.

It was her one chance to prove her worth to him. If she was to save Naruto, then maybe he'd realize that she was behind him all this time- willing to support him if he were to fall.

"But you helped me find my way and take the correct path, Naruto." she smiled, but it was a weak and diluted one. Her Byakugan refused to leave Pein's direction, but her 360° vision let her see his worried expression. Her chest tightened at the piteous sight, but she refused to back down. "I always chased after you. I wanted to catch up to you. I wanted to walk beside you all the time." Hinata ignored Naruto's cries, as if unimportant, cast them away to her subconscious. But they were important- everything Naruto has said or done for her were.

"I want to be at your side, always," her meek, teetering stutter had vanished, leaving the confident side behind. " You changed me, Naruto. Your smile is what saved me. That's why I'm not afraid to die." If he would understand the truth she felt for him, the genuine warmth and love she had kept with her for all these years-

The smile strengthened, but her eyes softened. "If it means I can protect you."

The words had wanted to leave her lips for so long;

She was never brave enough to wipe away his tears;

Never strong enough to protect him;

Never enough at all to save him;

But if it would buy him time, and if it were to mean something to Naruto, then any sacrifice was as trifling as the dirt she stood on. He was her sun- Konoha's sun, the foundation of their inspiration. She would not let him die, even if it cost her the ultimate price.

Because he was the one who gave her the courage to say them, in the first place.

The words that she could not say.

The words she wanted to say.

She wanted to wipe away his tears.

She wanted to protect him.

She wanted to save him.

She opened her mouth, slowly, her lips parting, her posture momentarily weakening. With bitter confidence, Hinata confessed the deepest truth within her heart :

"Because, I love you, Naruto."

Pein's piercing, purple eyes, contrasted by the inferno of his wild orange hair were the last thing she saw before she felt the harsh pull of his Almighty Push.

..

She awoke to not find herself pinned onto the ground; nor was there an impaled sword on the upmost center of her belly. She was being carried, and whoever had been doing so had the intricacy to pillow her head with their arms, and kept her legs in a steady hold, latching to the flipside of her knees. Despite the awfully fast speed that they were taking off in, she had not stirred in her slumber nor had been woken up unintentionally. 'What a considerate person,' she contemplated, before proceeding to surcease the state limpness of her head was in and straighten her spine. With noticeable haste, their palm(which had been supporting the weight of her upper body) moved forwards to accompany Hinata's back when it had jerked forward in wake.

"You're awake," they hummed, the tone of how they did so a symphony to Hinata's ears. "Princess Byakugan." their voice was obviously too deep to be a woman's, but still remained on a boyish spectrum- even borderline childish.

"Who're you, s-sir?" she asked in a polite fashion- although the unrecognition and slight suspicion burning in the way she comported herself was clear. With her sight returning, she managed to make out the face of a man who had baby-blue hair and azure eyes to match. His skin was unbearably fair- almost like Sai's.. or, Kaguya's.

"My name is Toneri. Toneri Ōtsutsuki." he replied cooly. Toneri was not a name she recognized. Ōtsutsuki.. however, was a surname she did know of- Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. And the Ōtsutsuki themselves- the Clan of the godlike beings which had spawned a woman who'd almost claimed the lives of every living being on Earth itself.

She dwelled for a moment. Had she been struck down by Pein? Was Naruto-kun alright? Did she manage to bide him time to escape? Was the past three, four years, but a dream born of her hormonally-charged, mortally wounded, teenage mind(How embarassing, she was a Hyūga! How could she even think that Naruto-kun would'be been so lewd in her depiction? The dream-Sakura told her everything-)?

No. The experiences were much too real. Naruto was dead, Konoha had been rebuilt, the Fourth Shinobi War had happened and Pein, who had supposedly been attacking her, had been ridded of, quite some time ago. This wasn't Naruto's house, and Sakura was nowhere to be seen. This was not some kind of fever dream she concocted while being rescued by a stranger on the battlefield. She was being forcibly kidnapped. "Let me go- Byakugan!" she protested, snapping her Byakugan on, feeling the surge of power that awakened with the pulsation of her veins.

"I'm afraid that is not an option." the 'Toneri' man's expression darkened exponentially, but this threatening persona diminished as Hinata struggled in fear. "My, I am truly sorry, Byakuygan-himesama. But it has been predestined that you remain with me." before long, the landscape's saturated greens transformed into dull grays, and Hinata was no longer in Konoha. "But before that, would you grant me the simple joy of knowing your name?"

There was no point in lying. This man obviously knew that she had been a Hyūga- with the 'Byakugan-hime' as a moniker, there was no mistaking that he was aware of her status and lineage. Her first name was not of much importance. "...H-hinata.. Hyūga," she sallied. "Where.. where are we?"

"The moon, of course." he smiled. "Welcome to your new home, Hinata-hime."

________________________________

As Sakura came to, she fumbled in her sheets for a decent minute before standing herself up. She caught herself mid-pandiculation, the events of last night coming back to her. Had she said too much about Naruto? She was brutally honest, when it came to describing things like how Kakashi-sensei and Naruto would frequently discuss Icha Icha- (this being post-Jiraiya, mind you)and giggle over it like a gaggle of schoolgirls. She did say that she didn't care, but poor Hinata might've just been in the high of knowing Naruto more intimately (second-hand, albeit)and not understanding how disturbing it really was.

"Morning, Hinata!" she said, knocking on the door before entering.

Sakura was sodden with confusion. The window had been shattered, and the bedsheets were a mess of said glass- and Hinata was nowhere to be found. Her scarf, too, had vanished with her.

She first assumed Hinata had done that- but quickly came to the conclusion there was absolutely no way that it could be the case. Hinata Hyūga was decadent; if she needed to leave in the middle of the night, she would at least leave a note(and would so in the fashion that did not involve smashing a window). And Sakura was an exceptional kunoichi; even outclassing Hinata herself, (despite being a little dopey with controlling the depth of her sleep) and would've heard a loud noise such as glass shattering in the dead of night. So what- or who, had taken her?

"Rokudaime-sama! Hyūga-san has been kidnapped."

And that's when everything came awry.

"I know Hanabi Hyūga has disappeared. I've dispatched a four-man squad already for her retrieval. Where were you? I wanted you on the retrieval team." Kakashi answered.

"I- I was at Naruto's house. No.. what? Hanabi-san has been captured, too? But no, Hinata's been-" Sakura froze. Why? Who? Who would've benefited from their abductions? Taking the heiress and her only replacement would be detrimental to the Clan itself, but since there had been no feuds concerning Konoha's only kekkei genkai wielding family in years. Hiashi had made note of that.

"..Too?" Kakashi echoed, his voice; which had been low and stoic, grew thin from the forming precipitation on his forehead. "Sakura. When did this happen?"

She paused to allow her a moment of respite. "This morning. Last night? Somewhere in between. I was sleeping, shishou. The windows were broken open and she was gone."

"You were with her? Where?" her former sensei demanded to know.

"At Naruto Uzumaki's house, sensei." Sakura whispered, aghast. "She would never have defiled his property like that, nor is she the type to leave without a message,"

The gray-haired man stammered for a second, the knowing in his eyes a flashing spark- before fluttering closed. "I see." he sighed. "Was there evidence? Like a piece of fabric, a strand of hair.. anything, at the scene?"

Sakura's Sharingan had scanned the bedroom fully once before. "No," she ruefully admitted, hiding her face behind her pink bangs. "There wasn't a trace of Hinata-san left behind."

Former teacher-and-student, along with a silent tan-haired woman(who Sakura assumed was his assistant), agreed with understanding gazes, and Sakura took off. There was probably still, something undetectable to her feeble human nose- perhaps a trail of scent- and that alone was hope enough to ask the Inuzukas for help.

"Kiba-kun!" the aforementioned man clutched his ears in pain, retaliating into an infantile position after hearing Sakura's blood-curdling screech. Akamaru's body tensed as he woke up beside him. "Hinata-san has been kidnapped-"

The man who had been previously rolled into a fetal position ironed out in seconds. "Hinata is what?" he stiffened, clearly astonished by the mere thought of his favorite female teammate's(the only one, might he add) unforeseen abduction.

"I need your help. She was last at Naruto's house with me, but she disappeared."

"Sure she didn't just leave?" Kiba reasoned, ruffling his already messy hair(though it had been an attempt in tidying it, in reality).

"She was there all night. We were kinda having a sleepover. The window was smashed in, to boot." Sakura countered.

"And you didn't hear-- you know what, Sakura, it doesn't matter. I think right when I assume that you want me to track her down?" he asked presumptuously, lifting to an otherwise defensive stance. (He was in his pajamas... so.)

Sakura nodded violently, taking Kiba's hand (and Akamaru's tail, simultaneously) and launching herself out from where she came from. "Agh, Sakura, let go!" he wailed, his spitting temper set alight. Blushing, he continued with an even more vocal complaint. "What if Tamaki sees me like this?!"

"Nevermind Tamaki, Kiba!" she retorted, forcefully stripping herself of the amusement she had accumulated while talking to the (basically) human bloodhound nin. Dragging along the pair with her enormous, inhuman strength, taking off at supersonic speeds(or at least that's how it felt like for the poor Inuzuka's stomach.), Sakura left her two unwilling passengers nauseous by the time Naruto's home came into sight. "We're here."

________________________________

"The scent ends here, Sakura." Kiba stroked his light goatee, looking dumbfounded. "It ends.. then.. it's nothing."

On a rooftop, four houses away from Naruto's apartment complex. There was chakra lingering here, however, and it was not Hinata's.

"You sure?" Sakura's mouth twisted into a lopsided frown, feeling the perspiration gather on her forehead. "Don't you feel this.. odd.. chakra?" she made a waving motion with her hands, pointing out that this energy felt unlike anything she'd ever encountered..

Besides Kaguya.

But Kaguya was sealed away, and even in the absurd chance that she was freed, she would've attacked Konoha directly instead of committing herself to a nonviolent, political approach.

"Now that you mention it, yeah." Kiba 'hmmed', before looking up towards the sky. "I can visualize a mental trail.. but weirdly.. it stops, but I can see where she's at.." tentatively, he began pointing his hand upwards into the vast sky, looking awed. "Up to the Moon. But no shinobi's ever gone up there before.. besides Madara or someone.."

"What.." Sakura chuckled dryly before an inhale restored to a serious peal. "Kiba, there is no time for jokes."

"I'm serious," Kiba answered, going on the offensive. Akamaru barked in agreement. "Literally, she went up there. Hinata's up in the moon."

"You know I'm immune to genjūtsu, Kiba." she sighed, waving her hand dismissively. "Really, be more original. If we don't find Hinata because you wanted to be funny, I'm going to chakra-punch you into the moon."

Kiba began making hand seals as if completely ignoring Sakura's threat. Under his breath, he began muttering something which sounded vaguely like "Tracking Jutsū : Visualisation Technique," and soon enough, a flat screen that resembled a portal began to appear.

Sakura looked up ahead for a few seconds, the only thing in her line of sight being the glare of the sun. But the sky was not a powdery baby blue- it was pitch black onyx. The pinkette ogled the scenery blankly. This was not anywhere on the earth. The atmosphere would've not allowed the sun to concurrently visible along with the familiar darkness of a typical night sky. Besides.. she could see, quite clearly, the azure of her home planet shimmer below.

And there were buildings. One massive one, in fact. The portal, which had been like a flat TV screen, began to shift the focus; until she could see Hinata and a man- the former donning what appeared to be a bridal gown, dark in color, highlighted by small strands of gold, lustrous fabric. While not being red-and-white like most wedding gowns she'd seen- the traditionality of the hood remained, ...despite how since the beginning of the technological revolution, old-style weddings grew more and more uncommon in non-shinobi villages.

And the man. Who the hell was he? Bitter hatred began to pulse through her veins. Hinata's hooded face gave no clue of whether or not she was compliant with the arrangement but considering that Hinata had been kidnapped... under her own roof, to boot!

"Kai!" Sakura shouted, trying to release the genjūtsu. But it had no effect because it simply wasn't an illusion. (But wait, did the blackness of the sky just turn yellow? In the window-)

"The hell, Sakura!" Kiba stammered, the strain in his voice evident. "Stop distracting me!" The impossibly long distance between Hinata and the two of them would obviously be taking a huge toll on his reserves.

Suddenly, the man's eyes grew a miraculous blue-and-white and removed his curled arm from Hinata's back. His head cocked towards the direction where Kiba's jūtsu would've been, if physically present. "Hinata-sama.. it appears there is someone watching us."

Hinata's face rose, literally unveiling her hollow expression, but that quickly cleared when she registered the strange man's words. "Toneri, don't be silly," she spoke, her voice barely loud enough for Sakura to pick up on. The words she said might've meant that she was unaware of Sakura's and Kiba's intrusion, but the way she did seemed to indicate she was passing on information. "It's probably a servant, right? The only one with chakra is Hanabi, besides us, and she's... not going to be up anytime soon." she smiled weakly (and honestly), the need for understanding buried into her voice. "And.. the earth is going to.. be.. destroyed.. so, there's nothing to worry about." Her eyes were not focussed onto the portal's entrance, giving clue that it was the man's dōjutsu that had allowed him to pinpoint where the chakra had invisibly manifested.

Kiba suddenly collapsed, and so did the jūtsu. Sakura wanted to break through the 'portal' and rescue her friend then and there, but she couldn't- the vision before her grew to the size of a pea before blinking out of existence. "K-kiba! Are you okay?"

"I'm exhausted," he said, straddling himself in a curled position. His arms wobbled like a baby who had just begun to crawl. "What did you see?"

Sakura froze at the sudden question. Did it really take that much concentration..? "There was a man, and Hinata, like you said. She was in a bridal kimono. But the guy.. he knew we were watching.." she shuddered at the thought. Not many were able to identify such faint chakra signals, especially if even the Byakuygan-wielding Hinata had not been able to sense it. "From what I picked up, Hanabi must be with them. And.. not only that, but apparently, the Earth will be destroyed, too."

Kiba's scowl deepened. "How are we.. going to?" -save Hinata and Hanabi, and the world?

"I need to find the scout team that was sent off for Hanabi. Kakashi-sensei told me he sent a four-man team to track her down." Sakura explained. She picked up Kiba onto her shoulders, him on a more comfortable piggy-back ride(compared to the ruthless dragging). Sakura took Akamaru, who was nudging Kiba's side, into her arms and began to bounce over the rooftops, heading towards the Hokage's Tower.

"Rokudaime-sama!" Sakura's voice boomed, the doors being flung open. His assistant(?) twitched as she reacted to the sudden noise, but Kakashi kept face. "I asked Kiba Inuzuka for help. He did track down Hanabi and both Hinata," Sakura said, as she put down the mentioned Inuzuka down on a couch by leaning her back. Akamaru pounced out of her embrace, sitting adjacent to his owner.

"But I assume you have not retrieved them," the Hokage concluded, hands intertwined neatly on his desk.

"Yes, we haven't. There's more, though. They're both on the moon, and Hinata remarked that she was... well, she appeared to be marrying a guy.." the pinkette gulped, unsure of what to make of the sight of Hinata in her wedding dress, next to man she did not know. The protective inner best friend inside of her clashed with her professionalism and fought for dominance. ".. for Hanabi. My guess is Hanabi is being taken as ransom for Hinata's hand in marriage. But..." she seized her best, enthusiastic expression for this- "The world is going to end, apparently."

The Rokudaime's level expression shattered, and Kakashi sat up, the interlocked members slamming down to his sides, but they had made no noise. "What?"

"Yeah. I don't know the details.. but.. Hinata told me herself." Sakura rued. "Kiba's jūtsu allowed us to track her down.. thanks to the immense amount of strange chakra that lingered where her scent cut off."

"Sakura.. no, I know of this. My assistant.. and the Kages, we've discussed this. The moon's surface is breaking apart., and will eventually crash into the Earth." he furrowed his brows. "Knowing there are people on the moon ..This changes things."

"See.. there is no way we can get to the moon." Kakashi answered frankly. "I am unsure how we're going to save those two Hyūgas. And about the man," he regained composure and closed his eyes in thought. "I've heard a Clan of Ōtsutsukis- the Sage of the Six Path's mother's clan- lived on the moon." he sat back down, averting his gaze in shame. "Just like Kaguya, this man must've had immense strength. Which brings me to another frightening conclusion." His student's eyes perked up in realization.

"The possibility.. that he's here to finish what she started..?" Sakura gulped, feeling the spit hotly slide down her throat.

"Yes." Kakashi replied, characteristically darkly. "her powers were granted by the legendary Chakra Fruit. Say, if another Ōtsutsuki got ahold of it. They'd be granted as much."

Even while bedridden, Kiba managed to sputter out his shock in the form of spit.

"Anyway, the guy you saw is called Toneri," Kakashi added nonchalantly.

"Yeah! That's right, Hinata said his name was Toneri." Sakura then wrinkled her nose. "So.. what are we.. Naruto and Sasuke were the only ones capable of beating Kaguya. But they're dead."

"We'll wait and see. Sakura, I do have a backup plan for you." Kakashi replied, using his hand to urge her pupil closer. She complied, and Sakura walked over towards him.

"Like you did when you released the rest of the world from Infinite Tsukuyomi," there was a pregnant pause before he continued. "Will use your Rinnegan to control the Tailed Beasts... with their chakra, use the portal dōjutsu to send yourselves to the moon to defeat the Ōtsutsuki, and rescue the Hyūga heiress and her younger sister."

Sakura's face paled. How the actual hell would she pull that off? "Kakashi-sensei.. can't we just. Wait and see what happens?" she sweated, letting her uncertainty drawl off like dew on slanted leaves.

The assistant gave her a disapproving shake of her head. "Haruno-san, unfortunately, there is simply no other known space-time ninjūtsu that is capable of long-distance teleportation." there was Obito, yeah, but he was dead, too. And his body had been turned into ashes by Kaguya, so there was pretty much no hope to revive him. "Uchiha-san showed the capacity to travel to different dimensions at will. We are simply assuming that this could also mean it has the capability to travel long distances, as well."

Sakura had nowhere near the same mastery as Sasuke had with his- her Rinnegan. She had neglected it along with its Mangekyou abilities- every time she stared into the mirror, she'd get a sharp pang in her chest.

It hurt to know that his last wish had for her to take it and save the world.. but the 'woe-is-I, I wasn't able to save him' attitude had stunted her progress until recently. She rarely even used it, reserving it for threats (for good measure) or research. She even began adopting a hairstyle that was reminiscent of how Kakashi-sensei would wear his forehead protector over his Sharingan. So, in conclusion, she wasn't even sure if his abilities carried to her.

"Today?" Sakura pried, weakly.

"As soon as the team I assigned to find Hanabi Hyūga comes back." Kakashi murmured through his mask. "So yes, today."

Sakura didn't know whether or not to sigh in exasperation or start bawling. She'd have to be cold-blooded to.

________________________________

It was about noon when the scouts came back. Kiba had recovered by then.

The expedition team consisted of Shikamaru Nara, Sai, Kō(Hinata's former bodyguard) Hyūga and Tenten Kunai.

"Sai saw some.. what we suspect is Toneri's, ninjas capture Hanabi yesterday night." the weapons-master explained. "He fought but lost her captors. Last he saw of them, was to the north- a colder region of snow and dense forests."

Sakura nodded indignantly. Shikamaru came up to her next, revealing a palm to her. Sakura's eyes widened- it looked to be a clock of some sort, or a stopwatch. "And that is...?"

"A doomsday countdown." Shikamaru answered, pulling back his hand to bobble limply on his side. "Kakashi's assistant gave it to me. I suspect he told you that the moon was going to crash into earth at some point? Because that's kinda important."

"Yeah... about that. He didn't." Mostly because she already knew about the Armageddon, but...! He didn't touch on it directly. Shikamaru sighed.

"Lazy as always, tch." he shook his head. "How troublesome."

Sakura didn't know whether or not Shikamaru- possibly the laziest man alive- was actually being serious. "Um.. okay."

"We're going to take off now," Sai called, opening a scroll to draw on. Within moments, inked birds appeared in a cloud of smoke, offering their backs to the six ninjas (and one ninken).

________________________________

Sakura shivered in the cold, her teeth chattering as she hugged herself in an attempt to keep warm. 'I should've brought a coat!' she mentally scolded herself, while noting that the coat she wore the other day could've sufficed. If only she hadn't taken it off while waiting patiently in the Hokage tower. 'Damn those insulated rooms!' She shot a death-stare at Kiba, who was still wearing a puffy jacket like he did in his genin days.

A voice broke the verbal silence. "I see something. A kunai," Kō spoke, his Byakugan flaring. "I'll go retrieve it." The Hyūga's bird soared down towards the ground, and then back up. In his hand, was a kunai with a miniature pink doll.. a keychain, of sorts, on it.

"What is it?" Shikamaru retorted, his bird drawing closer to the Hyūga's.

Kō grunted in surprise. "This..! This is Lady Hanabi's kunai!" he spoke incredulously, and Sakura felt hope burn in her chest. No, it was not hypothermia getting to her senses. Her body was perfectly capable of homeostasis on its own!

Kiba was then handed the kunai, and his nose began to flare. ".. the trail's headed over there," he said, pointing northwest. Their v-formation steadily began to curveball and the whole group headed to where Kiba had pointed.

A few more minutes passed.

"Kō, do you see anything?" Shikamaru asked.

"There's a spring at the bottom of the cave. It appears to be glowing." the Hyūga answered.

________________________________

"That's the shinobi letter 'a'," Shikamaru motioned, looking up at scripture on the ceiling of the cave, beyond the countless amounts of stalactites. True as Kō as said, the cave's inner river grotto was a blinding cyan. "As in Aun. It could mean, 'This is the beginning'." he stalled before turning to Kō. "Can you see anything on the bottom?"

"..No." he replied sternly. "It's as if it's being distorted."

"Something's distorting your Byakugan?"

"We'll see when we get down there," Tenten interjected, stretching for the impending swim. Sakura blinked, and turned to Kiba with a creepy smirk. Serves him right for being the only one warm!

"Ugh, my coat." Kiba stressed, beginning to take it off. Akamaru yipped in shared distress. He probably didn't want to wet his literal coat, either.

"I don't think that's necessary," said Sai, scooping a handful of the spring's water into his hand. It magically evaporated(or was absorbed) and his hand was as dry as it had been, moments ago. "When you touch this water, you don't get wet."

The group dove foot-first into the spring, and Sakura had instinctively withdrawn herself, expecting coldness or sharp pain. But when she opened her eyes, they did not sting or feel blurry as it usually did to open in normal water.

They swam for a while before they reached some kind of border in the water. As Sakura saw Shikamaru pass, he began free falling. This wasn't some other kind of liquid, separated by density or something. This was some kind of insane gravity-defying pool, influenced by human hands, no doubt. As she let her hand pass, she felt cool air.

Then the rest of her body went through, and the world went blank.

..

"My name is Haruno Sakura." a long-haired, chubby-cheeked version of herself started to speak. "What I like is.." she looked to a younger version of Sasuke, (who was blushing, even though he had a scowl of indifference that contrasted his darkened cheeks) looking lovestruck.

She turned to Kakashi with resolution, before continuing to answer the second question. "..or more like the person I like is," before looking at Sasuke again- "and my dream for the future is.." she then looked AGAIN at Sasuke before unleashing an annoying, high-pitched squeal.

Suddenly, she flaxed her goofy demeanor, and she suddenly looked angry. "What I hate is NARUTO!"

The scene switched, and Sakura looked a tad older, perhaps after the chūnin exams. Her hair was a lot shorter than it was before. "Stay--"

Oh, not this embarrassing, godforsaken moment again. She managed to repress the memory, and then there was another change in pace, this time, with a more.. ruined landscape around them.

"It's always like this," a 14-year-old Sakura stated, looking pitiful, even with Naruto's sickly form by her lap. "The only things I can do for Naruto.. are so small." Yamato looked sideways to look at her, but he did not object until a few, gut-wrenching seconds later.

"It's not a problem of small or big," he said with a sympathetic look. "What's important is the strength of the feelings you have for Naruto."

The scene switched for the fourth time.

"Stop acting like you were my sensei, because that time is over, Kakashi."

In front of her was Sasuke, and to the left of her, was Kakashi-sensei in a cloak. "I want to kill you so much I can taste it!" Sasuke screeched, an innate sense of INSANITY behind his demented cackle, which was a strangled staccato as if he had a terrible case of dysphonia. The older Sakura stared dumbly at Kakashi's face, which, well, the future-Rokudaime looked nothing short of 'look at how many cares I give, Sasuke. They equal to the number of living relatives you have'. "Itachi, my mother, my father. Bring them all back, and then I'll quit right now."

She wanted to chakra punch(murder) the hell out of the last(at the time) remaining Uchiha, but Sakura was fully aware this was a genjūtsu. It was just kinda funny seeing her memories again, in such accurate, pristine way, instead of a.. how do you even describe thoughts?

Then it switched.

It was a 17-year old Sakura, this time, with a more refined hairstyle, her bangs tucked behind her ears, and the ruffles of her unkempt hair now smoothed out. Her outfit was compromised of a pitch-black, professional-looking suit, and her expression was daunted. Rain poured over her umbrella, which she clutched with desperation. She was hugging Ino at the same time, the corners of her lips twitching in frustration? Sadness? Something like that. It was the mass funeral. Tsunade's speech began like it had before- "Uzumaki Naruto was, in life, a rash individu--"

Sakura groaned, slapping her face with her hand, looking miffed. "Kai." she said, sighing to herself. A genjūtsu... what a weird pool indeed. Using memories to trap people in internal sleep? Now, where did she hear that before?

She floated over to Tenten's unconscious body and shook it awake. The dual-bunned girl groaned, but sure enough, roust and began to look around. "What happened..?"

"Genjūtsu," Sakura explained. "I'm immune, so.." she turned away from her before approaching Shikamaru, prodding him to stir him from his sleep. "Wakeee uppp." she said, emphasizing her vowels. Three shakes later, the entire group was up and ready.

"Is this a trap set by the enemy?" inquired Sai.

"Yeah. It traps intruders in a Genjūtsu and shuts them away in a world of memories." Shikamaru replied as everyone began taking off again. "Thank goodness that Sakura, who's resistant to Genjūtsu, was with us."

"Thanks, Sakura. I was having a nice dream of my brother." the white-skinned man began, in a way that held no sarcasm nor anger. "I appreciate you ripping me out of it." the former Root ANBU cheered, being socially clueless as always.

"That doesn't sound like gratitude.." the genius nin gawked, perturbed face twin with Sakura's. Even though she had years more experience in raw time spent with Sai, she could never truly get comfortable with his more risqué jokes. Not that this one was('cos it wasn't), but it was touchy as usual.

(Because Sai's 'brother' died and told him to tell Danzo that Sai had been the one to kill him. So assuming that he had witnessed that said death was not misguided, to be frank. And the boy had grown up as an orphan without a name until Team 7 had given him his since Root ANBU were supposed to be completely emotionally detached.)

Ah, retconning...

"Kō. It's another spring. Do you see anything?" Shikamaru quipped as he landed on a branch-like appendage(possibly crystal forming inside the cave).

"...No," Kō said, shaking his head.

"All right, then, be ready to fight as we proceed." the leader ordered, and the rest of them 'roger'ed.

Everyone jumped into the second gravity-defying spring, and this time, there was an exit in the far end, a hole that led upwards(so at least this one stayed within some kind of logic). As they clambered up the little tide pool, they saw a dense pile of bubbles. Tenten's hitched gasp for breath was the first thing Sakura heard as she rose to the shore.

The bubbles.. were they the same nostalgia-inducing yellow spheres back in that weird illusion area?

"This place is.. some kind of bubble factory," it was Sai, standing close to one of the bubbles, gazing at his reflection.

"It must've been made by the gatekeeper who lives in here," Shikamaru looked around deftly at the hoards of bubbles before him, one hand at his hip.

Akamaru yipped as he almost popped one, but his owner yanked him away in time. "Akamaru! Do you wanna have to get your tail saved by Saku--" Kiba froze mid-sentence. "Y'guys hear that?"

Kō's Byakugan flashed on, and he shifted into a defensive pose. "Over there!" he yelled, and everyone turned around to see a limb emerge from the shadows. Then another, then three more, then a crustacean's claws- it was a freaking 20-meter tall crab, turquoise in color, with an opalescent highlight on the tops of its shell.

The pinkette dabbled in the thought a second too long before choosing to speak. "A crab-" Sakura began but was quickly interrupted by her mission leader.

"That's the gatekeeper!" Shikamaru concluded, like the resident tactician that he is.

Its mouth, which was like a barrel of a gun, which was foaming viciously, began to sputter out a torrent of water. "Scatter!" she heard Shikamaru cry, and she jumped a solid twenty feet backward. "Don't pop the bubbles! Or we'll get caught in a Genjūtsu again!" he did a barrel roll mid-air, avoiding a jet-stream of water.

Tenten didn't waste time before pulling out her scroll. A flurry of weapons began cascading down to the crab, but the kunai deflected uselessly before its tough exterior, causing sparks to flare at the friction.

"Human Beast Mixture Transformation — Three-Headed Wolf!" Kiba yowled, following a poof of smoke which a shadow clone of his emerged from. It suddenly fused with his ninken companion before it transformed into a three-headed dog. Said dog began to tear at the crab's legs, successfully tearing one off at the socket.

"Super Beast Scroll!" A trio of tiger-like inkings began to jump at the crab, but were blown into splatters of ink at its oversized claspers. "Fujin, Raijin!" the crab began to lower itself towards Sai in an attempt to crush him, but an equally ginormous hand halted its rampage. Two identical giants, both with long, high-up ponytails, stopped the beast's aberrated strength momentarily before the rightmost one kicked at the crab's lower limbs, sending it skidding to a cavern wall, smoke flying everywhere.

Before it had the chance to recover, one of the giants tousled its larger limb, catapulting it, this time, to the top of the cave, where another billowy wave of dust exploded around. Rocks began to tumble from the ceiling, the entire arena shaking with the heat of battle.

"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!" Kō jostled against a wall, using the rebound of his power to jump back at the enemy, while simultaneously smashing an open palm into the air with deadly accuracy- and a sudden zest blew the crab off its feet immediately, and it lost its firey alacrity. Coming into close combat, the Hyūga bashed mercilessly against the shell, and it began to form web-like fractures. Even Shikamaru took the extra care to bind the oversized crustacean with his shadows, and the rest of the crew began attacking it incessantly. There was biting, gouging, stabbing. Sakura kinda felt bad for the crab.

Sakura took the chance at the immobilized fiend out of its misery- yelling her trademark "Shannaro!" before her fist absolutely decimated the crab, its already-damaged armor shattering into a million pieces before it imploded in itself with a satisfying 'crrk'. "Whew!" she shouted, landing squarely on her feet.

Kiba dismissed his shadow clone, sending the hideous creature that used to- is Akamaru, back to his original, much cuter form. "Who's ready to book it out of this cave?" he joked, wiping the cold sweat that was dripping down the side of his temples.

"Me," Sakura complained, no sooner than when Shikamaru began guiding the lot away from the oozing carcass. "I'm so gonna punch Kakashi after this. And that Toneri guy."

________________________________

Two days later.

It actually happened that the cave connected to an underground world, featuring a man-made sun. The sky was the same azure as if they weren't a mile underground, with cumulating clouds up in the air- which had a salty tint to it alongside an ocean freshness. There were also a couple of islands in the vicinity, with one being up in the air. She gaped in disbelief, but her fears were dismissed as an elucidation came belligerently, and expectedly, from the Nara genius. "The surface of the ocean is warped." Shikamaru had said.

They'd set up camp in the forest of the grounded island, after a few hours of searching on their avian vehicles, and Sakura slept soundly.

The whole of the second day was spent searching- which, they managed to locate a village- which Sai proposed had been a shinobi town, considering the findings of a kunai and multiple nin technologies.

Eventually, they came across a broken statue, horned and all, depicting what appeared to be a stylized version of a Senju figurine. The lower half of the religious prince's face disgraced by an ugly indent- her reverential side hissed in disapproval.

Shikamaru poised himself before approaching Sakura- "There's some ancient writing over there." (Not that he wasn't adept in the art of decrypting olden text, but the cost-benefit ratio of having a Rinnegan user read it like their native tongue compared to actually taking the time to scan over and translate it left him with a clear choice.) "I'm sure you won't have trouble reading it."

Sakura was confused, questioning the spiky-haired boy's motives again. Her? Sure, she was smart, possessing analytical skills rivaling many a great ninja, but to fluidly recite scripture that even Shikamaru wasn't able to- Oh? Sakura wanted to hit herself at the revelation. When she approached the tablet, haunting clairvoyance washed over her. "Ancient oath crossing the path of humanity, just as all else." she chanted.

"That's pretty impressive," Tenten awed.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Sure you aren't making it up?"

..

"..The fist of the Tensei Eye, the reborn moon, will destroy man." Furtively, the pinkette wondered why she hadn't predicted that the Nara would employ her as his stand-in translator.

"It's implying that the Tensei eye is what powers the moon," Kō deduced, running a finger on the stone partition, after standing from his squatted position. "Rokudaime-sama was correct in informing us that Lady Hanabi's capture was related to the progressive destruction of the moon."

"Kakashi's hunches are pretty good, eh?" Shikamaru mused, and Sai bobbed his head in consensus.

Kō flinched and suddenly dug his hand into a panel on the ground. It smashed with a hollow noise, revealing a staircase below. "Come," he ordered, descending the flight of stairs rapidly.

As they reached the bottom, Kiba grew frantic. "Over there!"

A willowy wisp of a man began approaching the sixtet, who were now rigidly stanched, congregating into a triangular battle-formation. "I can sense the Byakugan.. but it's not the Byakugan Princess." the man belched out a ghostly moan, drawing near Kō.

Tenten squeezed at a kunai, but refused to hurt this assuredly civilian man. "Back off, now!" she threatened, one lone foot stepping towards him. The man began to look like he was about to vomit before falling to his knees, writhing with what seemed to be agony. His maw opened in a dislocating, impossible way, and a purple beam of light protruded forward. The ball of light began to shine with an evocable luminosity, and the Hyūga besides them fell forward. Tenten's subdued urge to pounce was then spent on underpinning the Byakugan user.

"The Tenseigan has been.." he stuttered, a goading wreck of a pause interrupting his last words. "re-vived.." before his head proceeded to detach from his neck, landing on the ground with a sickening 'squish'. White, translucent liquid began pooling around his decapitated torso. "It has to be stopped.. or.. Ōtsutsuki will.." Sakura waited for a continuation, but it never came.

Ōtsutsuki. Toneri Ōtsutsuki.

..

They emerged back at the entrance, where the horned statue had been. "Kō, are you alright?" Sakura queried, hands hesitantly hovering over his chest. The Hyūga grunted in contradiction with her fears. "Okay," she said, helping him up.

"That man said, Ōtsutsuki, right?" the Nara postulated. "That was the surname of the Sage of the Six Paths."

..

As Kō recovered, Shikamaru had pressured him to tell what exactly had caused him to faint. "I saw.. a terrible vision,"

"A Clan.. their emblem was a crescent moon with a dot in the center," he recollected, clutching his forehead. "And the other was another non-earthly crest. The general from the moon-tribe announced the 'Tenseigan' activate, then a circular weapon, perched on a small tower flashed.. then the other army combusted.. blew up completely."

"That's the Ōtsutsuki symbol," Shikamaru clarified further. "Can't think of any other Clan with a moon incorporated in its sign."

"The Ōtsutsuki are people of the moon, aren't they? So they're Hamura's descendants." Tenten said, as she dug into her meal. "Did Hamura have something against his own people? Why would they fight?"

The artificial sun was swallowed whole by the horizon, and the sky was a starless lapis.

"Not only that, but it.. the man who came to us in the burial site," Kō stammered, his composure corroding. "He came to me after the vision. He was the same man as the general who perished. He stated he was a member of the Ōtsutsuki's main branch, informing me that the side-branch Clan had interpreted the 'celestial decree' of Hamura Ōtsutsuki wrongly. Then," he drank some stew that grew stagnant in his tepid kettle. "Proposed that Hinata-sama was Earth's last hope, as she is the prophesied Byakugan Princess."

Passively, Kō drew for breath, a conceded frown eclipsing his calm frontispiece. "Hamura himself came to me, accordingly." Tenten dropped her plate. Kiba's jaw slacked. Sakura spat out her tea. It wasn't every day the Sage of the Six Path's brother came around to have a leisurely conversation with anyone. "He said, 'Do not allow the world my elder brother created.. to come to an end.'"

Hinata was on the moon, miles upon miles away. How could they uphold such a hefty promise on their own? The torch of hope blew out in Sakura's chest.

..

Sai was sitting on the deteriorated veranda of one of the abandoned buildings, staring at the sky with curiosity. "Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. That was the name of the Sage of Six Paths before he entered the priesthood and started teaching ninshu, the precursor of ninjūtsu."

Shikamaru sipped from his cup of soup. "This has all got to be connected with Toneri's abduction of Hanabi." He glanced down at his hand. "Geez, this clock's really going down to something. If we don't go back up soon, it'll be really troublesome."

Sakura advanced toward the duo, a dish in one hand, a fork in the other. "What's troublesome, actually, Shikamaru," she deadpanned. "Is who's going to be on dishwashing duty."

"I'd die before taking dishwashing duty," Sai stated with a smile on his face. "It's way too domestic."

The lazier of the two coordinated with Sai's wishes. "Not die, because it would be troublesome for the sake of the mission, but I'd rather not."

"Shikamaru, Sai, you did see what I did back there, did you?" Sakura said, with a fist pulsing with veins thwarting upwards up to her neck. "It'll be you next if you don't start washin'. And Sai, it's not gonna be just death. Torture is kinda part of the mix."

Sakura relaxed her vise-grip, her bleached knuckles flooding with a rosy tone. "But you wouldn't subject me to such emotional and physical harm, especially after the one you suffered through the course of the Fourth Shinobi War, right?" Sai asked, still smiling. "Ugly?" that certainly did not help in extinguishing her ire.

Acknowledging how fired up the pinkette had become, the ponytailed man crumbled at her feet (subjectively). "How troublesome," he uttered his trademark catchphrase before snatching the plate off of her occupied hand. "You're up for breakfast, though." Sai took notice that Shikamaru had begun to take his leave, and finally got the hint.

Sakura was left alone on the ledge and began to recollect her thoughts. There were only a few days until the apocalypse.

How was she not supposed to panic?

..

"Do not panic! This shelter was designed to accommodate every citizen in the land of fire," Tsunade's voice was amplified by the use of her chakra- sending her words clear to the hundreds squeezing their way into the underground safe house. "Everybody please, just stay calm." ANBU, Jonin, chunin, even a couple of older genin were guiding the citizens into the rectangular entrance, but the distress stubbornly deferred the otherwise easy procedure.

..

"I never imagined that his turn to appear would come after the war, when the world became peaceful." Regret was on the tip of his tongue, but A commanded his forces with diligence. His arms were folded, his gaze sternly fixed at the door. "Beneath is the chakra Diffusion Cannon." he said, pointing at the lower compartment of a three-probed machine, two closed sectors on the bottom and one open hatch on the top.

"We'll blast all the meteorites above the Equator. On top is the Chakra Transportation Cannon." The Raikage looked back at his adoptive brother in an adjoined moment of filial support. "It can transport any target into another dimension. With these, we'll destroy the moon." As a round of meteors began shimmering over the thickness of the clouds, the Raikage craned his neck to see his elite shinobi dispatching the shards with trained velocity. The end was nigh- his hand's counter proffered little, precious time to spare. "Everyone, get the cannons ready immediately."

..

Shikamaru and Sai had gone off to the artificial moon 'on a hunch'. They returned with news- Toneri and Hinata were hiding within its confines- they had been attacked by nin with the Ōtsutsuki's emblem. All they needed to do was infiltrate it and kill the centerpiece of the Armageddon; the Tenseigan.

Early in the dawn, the entire group prepared for a surprise attack.

Sakura was awoken by Akamaru's long, gentle licks, and she sat straight, wiping her cheek. "I'm ready." she told herself. As promised, she was the one to wipe off the dishes at breakfast.

They soared into the sky, taking Sai's and Shikamaru's lead.

Careening herself towards the odd feel of the bird's back, Sakura slumped against its gliding shoulders- up until Shikamaru's daft command, in which she perked up to. A hole was opening on the side- and her leader sent the bird diving towards the opening's caster, before binding him with his shadows. Everyone followed behind him, slipping into the hole. A palace came into view- probably the one she saw when Kiba had performed his tracking visualization jūtsu.

Breaking into the castle, Shikamaru ordered Kiba, Akamaru, Sakura and Kō to find Hanabi, while the rest of them would search for Hinata and Toneri.

"I smell Hanabi over there," Kiba motioned, taking his nose off of the young girl's kunai. Sakura quickened her pace, suddenly grabbing the reluctant Hyūga and the two Inuzukas in a similar manner to how she had done before- and summoned her chakra to boost her speed. The inner surface of the moon- the terrain where extravagant palace neared the edge of its domain, faltered before disintegrating under the pure rebound of Sakura's feet. She was propelled into the air at incredible speeds, crashing through a window and landing roughly onto a wooden floor, denting it.

Okay, an understatement.

Crashing through it, and ten other floors.

..

Kakashi's eyes widened. Lee's Sixth gate managed to destroy half of the meteorite, but the other half was intact- it curved in a pommelling motion, before regaining traction- heading straight down to Konoha. An evacuated, civilian-less Konoha.. but still.

He wondered if the fate of the village was secure. He would have to trust.. to believe in the expedition team he sent for Hanabi. To hope that the candle of sanguine he had lit would not flicker out.

The burning yellow of the falling projectile was not so bad at all. It gave him solace.

"And when we need you, you're gone, Naruto." he respired, accepting his fate.

..

Shikamaru looked stunned, freezing mid-battle. The massacre before him- the piles of crookedly placed marionettes wasn't the reason why he suddenly stiffened, but something else. He didn't feel the pulse of the doomsday clock anymore.

"What's wrong?" Tenten asked.

"The clock. It's gone. And Toneri's still alive, so that.." Shikamaru looked destitute, his persona flittering into a very bothered scowl. "Konoha. It's been destroyed."

..

"Hanabi.. that's terrible." The face of the young girl was tarnished by thick bandages. Her eyes were missing. Sakura couldn't believe it.. Toneri had stolen her Byakugan? And perhaps, Hinata's, as well?

"Hanabi-sama!" Kō screamed, falling beside the weakened form of his beneficiary's younger sister. "I swear an oath to rid Toneri of his callousness, for now, you have been subjected to such horror at such an unseasoned age.."

Sakura tried her hardest to ignore the Hyūga's pensive reunion, even with Kō's deranged yowls of grief. Turning them into familiar static, she coped- along with averting her eyes to take her mind off reality... and then- on the ground, was Hinata's scarf- the one she made for Naruto, torn and ripped apart viciously. "Hinata," she whispered, clenching her fist around the mangled yarn.

..

"Ninety percent." The Raikage repeated. "Ninety-five percent."

..

"Fire!"

..

Kō had picked up Hanabi, and was propping her unmoving body along in his arms. Shikamaru had regrouped with them after noticing that Toneri and Hinata had vanished after the trio had battled off his marionette (since they didn't bleed) militia.

Quickly, Sakura came to learn of what happened to Konoha. To Kakashi-sensei. To the everything she had worked to protect up since she was only twelve, when she received her headband- the village of the Hidden Leaves..

And here she said she was going to be a hero- and everything she stood for and extolled was now completely nil- only a crater on a map of villages- a story told by mankind throughout the generations as a prime example of what not to d- oh, wait. There was going to be no mankind anyway to save after this. They'd managed to get this far, but they had to rout just like this because.. who knows? Who cared at this point?

Sakura couldn't continue denying the devastation, and with gratuitous temperament, began punching ungracefully at every intact surface she saw. "Shannaro! Shannaro!" dozens of pits decorated the floor, all evidence of her deep inconsolability.

If it weren't for Kiba's fearful yelling, Sakura might've ended up destroying the very platform they were standing on. "Sakura! Stop!"

The tears that remained stinging in the verge of her corneas let loose. "Dammit, Kakashi-sensei! If only I stayed back home. I would've destroyed that stupid meteor in a blink of an eye, goddammit!" Tenten grabbed at Sakura's wildly protruding fists, but they cowered and instead offered solace, and Sakura couldn't refuse. Sakura slobbered herself over the weapons-master, swearing her regrets into the base of her flak jacket.

"We have another problem." Shikamaru sighed, tugging at Sakura's sleeve. "There seems to be a laser beam of mass destruction heading straight for us. I can tell it's going to be real soon. Seems Kiba was totally right all this time, eh. We are on the moon. The real one."

"There's one solution. Kō! You saw the Tenseigan, didn't you."

"I'm thinking that the cannon's going to be fired because the moon was going to crash back onto earth. Find the weapon. It might be the only hope in getting enough chakra to go back home."

The older Hyūga lent Hanabi's figure over to Tenten, before launching himself off- Sakura tailed him with as much force and rigor as she could manage. His Byakugan was fully activated, scanning the surroundings in inhuman speed. "There's a distortion in the center of the crescent moon." he announced, before an 'I see!' permeated almost giddily from his turned-away position. All this happened within the span of ten seconds.

1 minute twenty-two seconds before the fire. It would've taken only 1.3 seconds for the laser to launch, engage, and shoot the devastating beam to destroy everything around them, considering the distance to the moon and earth were exactly that- a mere 1.3 light seconds.

The two of them barged into the small spherical structure and spotted a bright energy source in the middle of the room. Like a miniature sun-within-a-moon. Some weird juxtaposition this was.

1 minute, nine seconds before fire. Kō valiantly attacked the glowing light first, but to no avail. Sakura was sure a weapon of planetary devastation like the Tenseigan would not be unguarded, so she proclaimed that Kō combine a dual attack with her and destroy it like that. (Since there seemed to be a running theme with how blood ties were plenty a good reason to start the extermination of a whole race.)

"Shannaro!" she screamed, and their bonded attack shattered the glowing light, leaving only some odd, purple balls floating in the air like a bunch of levitating grapes.

Kakashi-sensei was dead because she wasn't there. Team Seven's- with the exception of herself and Sai- legacy had only amounted to this much if she and he were to perish now.

Another Hokage gone far too soon, plucked away like the most beautiful flowers in the garden. Kakashi died as his mentor had- Minato Namizake's name would be inscribed next to his, teacher and student, protectors of Konoha, casualties for their village.

How would Sakura face the rest of the surviving Konoha? With all her avowed loyalty and camaraderie she had for her sensei, she would have to suck it up and accept it, just like how she did with Naruto's and Sasuke's deaths.

When it was too late, she was rising from the dust to reclaim her right. That is how Haruno Sakura operated. But this time, she would be a hero!

Thirty-two seconds before the fire. Sakura unleashed her Byakugo, the black diamond pattern stretching over from her forehead to the soles of her feet. The combined energy of many years of disuse proved to be sufficient. The Hyūga helped Sakura absorb the faltering energy before it scattered- and Sakura felt an almost divine power was at her disposal.

Ten seconds before the fire. The pinkette felt invincible- the pressure of gravity felt like a trivial remonstrance that would bend at her feet as she sped out of there in a lightning-fast celerity, to summon a portal in front of her, and then, on top of that, be able to cram everyone in there in time. Her friends had no chance to react before she projected them into the receiving end of the dimensional hole.

Two seconds before fire, she was darting all over the place to espy any trace of the final Hyūga. But as a blinding refraction of light signified the pre-charge of the cannon down on earth, she knew she had officially run out of time. With a heavy heart, Sakura threw herself into her portal, knowing Hinata was still at large.. and that she would never see her again.

One second before fire, Sakura's gate closed, and she landed on her bottom, skidding across the ground like an injured bird would after falling from the sky. She felt sick, the induced vertigo for expending so much chakra at once causing her to vomit haplessly onto the dirt floor.

"-ve percent,"

"Fire!"

There was an earthquake- no, rumble? It shook the ground with such power and strength that it knocked Sakura out. Even as her eyes closed, they were illuminated by the light of the cannon, her vision a bright orange.

________________________________

A/N : This chapter kept crashing because of the size and that's why there may be some errors. I don't have a Beta reader, mostly because I'm embarrassed of my drafts. I ended up rewriting 10 times or so because it kept crashing... I think I like the previous versions better than the one I have right now. :C