hello there people! hope y'all are still alive and taking care of yourselves in these crazy times!

i love the general reaction from last chapter being a culmination of 'HOLY SHIT YOU DIDNT FUCK ABOUT EVERYONE DIED' and my personal favourite 'HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME FEEL SAD OVER OROCHIMARU?!' no greater validation as a writer, i tell u

this is very much a 'catharsis' chapter, as well as a tiiiiiiny insight into What Comes NextTM which will be developed in the next - and, likely, final - chapter before the epilogue

all y'all calling for more sasuke-tsunade? team 7? sakura-yuki? I GOT Y'ALL

i will do a complete compilation of all the fan-art/spinoffs/contributions in the next chapter, but for now, please enjoy!

[also, kudos to anyone who can spot my current hyperfixation from a few of the lines in this chap]

"You look pensive, Uchiha."

"Hn."

Tsunade huffed a laugh through her nose and was silently grateful when Sasuke ignored the way her breath shuddered on the exhale.

"And yet, nothing's changed." She remarked as she stopped a couple of feet away from where the last Uchiha sat, crossing her arms over her chest with a wince.

"Everything's changed." Came Sasuke's unexpectedly vehement reply, and Tsunade narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

"Is that the reason for your thoughtful brooding?" she asked bluntly, surprised for the second time in as many minutes when the Uchiha brat merely scoffed and shook his head.

"Only an idiot doesn't change plans when the situation changes." He announced, oddly solemn, then snorted. "That, and Naruto."

"I'd have thought your hard-headed stubbornness would render any attempts at changing strategy moot." Tsunade pointed out honestly, and Sasuke glanced up at her for the first time, flat onyx eyes seeing more than Tsunade was entirely comfortable with him seeing, then he sighed.

"Maybe once." He replied simply, and hung his head.

"Everything's changed, indeed." Tsunade echoed thoughtfully, then steeled her expression and gave voice to the thought that had been plaguing her mind since she learnt that she'd been left alone, again.

"I'm going to resign as Hokage."

Sasuke visibly startled, the muscles of his shoulders tensing further if at all possible, and Tsunade wasn't sure what jarred him more: her words, or the fact that she was saying them to him.

"Why?" He asked at last, the word almost torn out of him.

And Tsunade finally gave in to the weariness that tugged at her soul and sat heavily where she stood, not quite next to the Uchiha, but close enough to be almost companionable.

"I never wanted the hat." She said simply. "And Hyuuga's basically ready to take over. When victory was announced, nobody mentioned what we'd lost. Once I found out…well. I first thought I'd transferred my bad luck to Jiraiya and Orochimaru, but...do you know what it's like, to be the last one left of a unit that had once been hailed across the Nations as legendary for its teamwork?"

Silence reigned between them for a few seconds, then Sasuke let out a small, wry sound that maybe once could've been a chuckle.

"You're walking away."

"I'm surprised you didn't say running." Tsunade bit out, because while the remark stung, she realised that, for this Uchiha in particular, the phrasing was almost charitable.

As if reading her mind, Sasuke shrugged.

"I know what it's like to outgrow a place." He studied her for a few more seconds, and there was that piercing, oddly heavy look in his eyes again. Then he said something that shook Tsunade to the core: "Take me with you."

"I-what?" she managed at last, eyes wide and disbelieving as she rounded on the teen.

"Orochimaru's dead." Sasuke pointed out flatly, and there were many conflicting emotions swirling behind his eyes, much the same as what Tsunade experienced every time she thought of her teammate's passing.

"There's nothing keeping me here. My brother's dead. I have no purpose anymore." A pause. "Besides, where else would I go? Konoha?" He scoffed derisively. "Please."

Tsunade studied him too, looked for the lie in his words and found none. "What are you asking, Uchiha?"

"Whenever you leave the Leaf," Sasuke repeated, slowly, as if speaking to someone particularly slow on the uptake, "take me with you."

"And what, teach you medical jutsu?" it was Tsunade's turn to snort. "Be serious-!"

"Why not?" Sasuke challenged, and with those two words, derailed Tsunade's entire argument. "I could do it."

Tsunade blinked. Shifted mental tracks. Focused not on the what, but the more important part – "Why?"

Sasuke raked a hand through his hair, growing visibly frustrated, a scowl appearing on his face.

"All the Uchiha before me stood for something." He said cryptically, almost desperately. "Madara for the Village. My father for the police. Itachi for peace, in his own twisted way. Even Obito, as fucked up as he was, believed in something enough to turn the world upside-down for it. What have I stood for? Fratricide? Psh."

Tsunade absorbed that for a few seconds, almost convinced that the kid had hit his head at some point and was suffering a major concussion. But when Sasuke met her gaze and held it, his face devoid of lies or ulterior motives, it finally clicked for her.

"You're being serious." She realised quietly, and some tension finally bled out of the Uchiha's frame.

"Hn."

"You want this?" she asked, needing desperately to double-check, having peeled back the layers and forced the lines apart as much as she could to read between them and disbelieving what she found. "You want my legacy?"

For the first time since the conversation began, some life and humour flickered through the Uchiha's eyes.

"I already have the dead family and last of my name gimmick." He informed her, a shadow of the mouthy brat Tsunade remembered, proving that that charming aspect of his personality hadn't been killed in the war, just…buried.

"Might as well have the medical jutsu to go with it." He ended with a dismissive shrug, but when Tsunade met his eyes, the corner of his lips twitched up infinitesimally.

The little shit.

"Well, alright, Uchiha. You have a month to change your mind. Then, if you're still certain, meet me in the casino in Tanzaku-Gai."

"I won't change my mind." Sasuke assured her, that hint of a smirk growing a little more pronounced. "Try not to die until then, shishou."

"Brat." Tsunade chastised and clipped the Uchiha round the head for good measure, but even she heard the note of begrudging fondness in her voice.

Then, she heaved herself to her feet. Breaktime was over. It was time to get back to the real world, and the real world wasn't looking good.

When Sakura woke up, for the first few seconds, she thought she'd overdone training and passed out on one of the training grounds back in Konoha; the surface under her back could've very well been hard ground, the smell of wet woods and petrichor hitting her nose when she took a deeper breath.

But along with wet forest, there was the sharp, metallic smell of blood, and the acrid stench of vomit which permeated the air, and she blinked her eyes open dazedly, alarm washing over her in a wave of cold sweat.

She wasn't in Konoha. She was, if her eyes were to be believed, in a makeshift hospital tent, the 'bed' under her back a wooden slab someone had haphazardly thrown a sheet over. She sat up, every muscle in her body screaming with exertion, and winced as she slowly pulled out the badly-inserted IV.

A quick inventory informed her that she was still in her battle-gear, but her kunai and medical pouches were nowhere to be found. An internal chakra scan revealed that her internal organs had been more or less healed, and she sighed with relief at the knowledge that at least she didn't have to worry about internal bleeding. But as she prodded at the spot where Obito had tried to gut her with his kunai, her fingers found evidence that battlefield healing would never match the hospital in the Village; even through her shirt, she could feel raised ridges of scar tissue, the area around the wound still tender, as if whoever had healed her had been going through a checklist titled 'fix what will kill her' and then left the rest.

She couldn't say she blamed them, but she felt far too raw and unsteady to even attempt reaching for her chakra, much less trying to form it into medical jutsu. Unable to postpone it any longer, Sakura carefully tried to heave herself to her feet.

Only for her legs to fold under her like twigs, causing her to hit the ground knees-first and hiss at the impact. Her back – and oh, now she remembered why it hurt – pulsed, the combined pain causing her vision to white out for a few seconds, and she bit her lip so hard that blood flooded her mouth.

So. Definitely not fully healed.

But alive.

She pulled herself to her feet again, even slower this time, holding onto the makeshift cot and the wall for support, and slowly, far slower than she was comfortable with, made her way out of the tent, feeling like a new-born fowl with how unsteady she was on her feet.

Sakura staggered to the flap of fabric and pushed it aside, catching herself on the first tree she found outside and wheezing for breath, the mere twenty feet she'd walked making her head spin and her lungs constrict.

She remembered, vaguely, as if through a fog, compartmentalising the pain and throwing away the key during her fight with Obito, and she was reaping the consequences of that decision now. She raised a hand to her brow, intent on wiping away the cold sweat that had gathered at her temples, but her eyes caught on a strip of bandage tied carefully around her wrist, despite the fact that she didn't recall receiving any injury there.

Frowning, Sakura moved to undo the dressing, but a hand caught her wrist right as her fingers were about to start tugging.

Sakura startled, not having paid attention to her surroundings in her single-minded escape from the 'hospital', and she raised wide eyes to meet distantly familiar crimson.

"Hey, hey." Karin soothed, pulling at Sakura's wrist until she obeyed and let her arm drop at her side, giving up on untying the bandage for the time being. "I put that bandage there. I figured you might prefer to be able to choose when and to whom you reveal your new position."

New position? Sakura frowned, mouth opening to ask Karin what on earth she was talking about, and then her mind jolted into gear and she remembered.

A cold, clammy hand grasping her own. A black snake seal curling around her wrist like a tattoo. Black sclera and golden irises and a face more beast than human. Healing chakra that burned and corroded as much as it healed.

"Otogakure…is yours." A fact.

"Do with it what I." A dying man's wish and a blessing all in one.

Sakura jerked back into the present, her eyes widening as she looked from Karin's patient gaze to the bandage covering her wrist.

"What-" she began, then coughed and wet her lips when her voice came out as a hoarse croak, her throat burning. "What does it mean?"

"It means," Karin explained quietly, even as she raised a hand and laid it on Sakura's shoulder and squeezed, alerting her to the fact that she was on the verge of hyperventilating, "that Otogakure is yours to command, if you want it."

"I-I've- I've never-!" Sakura choked out, then took as deep of a breath as her lungs allowed and held it, squeezing her eyes shut, until her head started to spin. When she released it and caught her breath, she felt a little steadier, the budding panic attack nipped in the bud, or at least postponed until she could break down in private.

"I've never led more than a squad. I don't know the first thing about commanding a whole people."

Karin smiled, though it was fragile and heartbroken, even though her hand didn't move from Sakura's shoulder, serving as a much-needed point of heat and grounding contact.

"You can learn. And there aren't that many of us left to command. Maybe four dozen shinobi, and the civilians Orochimaru had ordered to evacuate."

Sakura bit back the instinctive question of 'how many were you?' deciding it was both, too soon to ask, and morbid even for her. Instead, she tried her best to summon what would've once been a smile, reaching up to squeeze the wrist of the hand Karin still had on her shoulder.

"Could I- talk to you? Later, maybe? And Suigetsu if he's still- if he's still around?"

"Sure." Karin agreed easily, finally letting her hand leave Sakura's shoulder, though she didn't bother escaping the loose grip Sakura had on her wrist. "And Suigetsu's basically a cockroach – it would take more than a war to kill him, unfortunately, so I'm sure he's around."

Even as Sakura appreciated the attempt at a lighter tone, she couldn't manage more than a short, amused huff at Karin's words. Finally, she nodded, forced her fingers to let go of the redhead's wrist and stepped away.

"Thank you." She murmured, having gotten the hint that Karin was also responsible for the fact that she was still alive from what the girl hadn't said. "I'll see you later?"

Karin nodded back, and with a tired wave she turned away, disappearing behind the flaps that led into the very tent Sakura had just made her way out of.

Sakura raised a hand to rake through her loose hair, steadied herself on the tree when her knees wobbled as she absorbed the information, and sighed heavily.

"Fuck."

Naruto stumbled through the woods around Otogakure, sniffling still despite a good hour having passed since he learned of Jiraiya's…passing.

"Damn it." He hiccoughed, wiping at the stubborn tears that refused to stop with his ripped sleeve.

He felt useless in a way he hadn't since that first failed Sasuke retrieval mission. He'd fought the reincarnated jinchuuriki along with B and the Otogakure shinobi who had volunteered to stay behind and guard them, but-

But, when the fighting got serious and Obito's clones arrived, Jiraiya had summoned Fukasaku and demanded shelter for Naruto and B on Mount Myoboku, because he didn't trust him.

And Naruto hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise before he was being pulled away from the battle and to the Sage region. B had tried to explain that they were both too important to risk losing because they fumbled a battle, especially when most of the shinobi force was on the frontlines with Ame, but Naruto could see that the sudden relocation was grating even on the ever-cheerful Kumo-nin.

Still. Important or not, he'd ran away. Hidden.

Like a coward.

"Damn it!" he yelled, slapping his hand against the nearest tree.

There was a twitch of movement in his periphery, and when he turned to look, he saw pink hair and a glimpse of sharp emerald.

Sakura?

He headed closer, pulled as if by an invisible string, but stopped when he realised Sakura wasn't alone.

There was someone curled up in her lap, their back shaking with what were clearly sobs, breaths shuddering, but the grip they had on Sakura's kimono was strong enough to cause the fabric to tear where their fingers were clutching.

Sakura, for her part, sat on the ground with her back against a tree-trunk, her head tipped back, tear-tracks clearing paths on her grime-stained cheeks, her youthful face marred with lines of exhaustion and grief.

She must've seen him, but she kept her eyes closed, and only her hands moved, one carding gently through the hair of whoever was laying in her lap, the other stroking softly down their back, her fingers occasionally pausing to trace the–

The Nara Clan symbol on the other person's back.

Naruto's brain caught on, and he sighed heavily, regretful that another one of his peers has had to experience loss in this war, even if he and Shikamaru were not exactly on the best of terms last time they spoke.

"I'm sorry." Sakura murmured, her voice low and comforting, and Naruto watched as Shikamaru's back shook, and felt like he was intruding. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Not-" came the muffled reply, cut off by a sharp sob, "Not your fault." But Shikamaru still didn't lift his face from Sakura's lap.

"Then it's not yours either." Sakura replied sagely, her hands never stopping in their soothing motions, even when Shikamaru whined. "It's not. Nor is it Chojuro's. Ao thought of you what your dad thought of Cho. They made their choices. And if you don't blame Chojuro, why do you think he will blame you?"

Naruto was certain he was missing something, but he couldn't deny the way Sakura's voice made him feel almost weightless, like he was floating, or about to meditate.

"Let me- let me feel guilty, damn it." Shikamaru grumbled, and a fond smile curled around the corners of Sakura's lips, the filtered sunlight that illuminated her hair and the falling white petals – or were they feathers? – around them making her look ethereal.

"No." she replied softly. "I will hold you as you grieve, and rage along with you, and stand with you till we get through this, but I won't let you take responsibility for something that's not your fault. Don't borrow trouble, Shikamaru."

Naruto felt his eyes slip shut, the cadence of Sakura's voice making him feel safe, cocooned, like he could fall asleep any minu-!

Dumb kit. Kurama's voice rumbled in his mind, a jolt of bijuu chakra searing his pathways and jerking him out of the trance-like state. Couldn't spot a genjutsu if it bit you in the ass. Though to not need hand-signs for the Nehan Shōja is…impressive.

Genjutsu? Naruto echoed, blinking the heaviness from his eyes. But why would she-? And then his gaze fell on Shikamaru, and he noted that the Nara's back was no longer shaking with sobs but still, rising occasionally with the soft breaths of deep sleep.

"Sit down, Naruto." Sakura instructed quietly, her eyes finally opening as she looked at him.

"You knew I was here." Was what Naruto managed to say, even as he settled down on the damp ground not ten feet from where Sakura sat.

"You weren't exactly subtle." She replied, still speaking softly, as if tired, her entire being seeming small and deflated, at odds with his memories since coming back from his training trip, where she always seemed unstoppable and larger than life.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, Sakura's hands the only things that moved, not stopping their motion through Shikamaru's hair or across his back, and Naruto began to suspect that she was comforting herself as much as she was comforting the Nara.

"I'm sorry." He said at last, the words heavy on his tongue, but this odd atmosphere between them even heavier on his heart.

"I'm sorry for- for calling you a monster, when you brought Sasuke back. I'm sorry for assuming you were reliant on Team Seven the same way I was. And- thank you. For looking out for me." He smiled wryly when her eyebrow raised in silent question. "I saw the map on your wall. With the Akatsuki's locations."

A glimpse of recognition passed through Sakura's eyes at his admission, but contrary to what he expected, she didn't rage or get indignant, merely huffed a quiet laugh.

"Genma did say he thought somebody had tried to get in." she pointed out, as if more to herself than him. "You know, such a high dose of tetrodotoxin would've killed anyone else."

Naruto remembered cutting his hand when he'd essentially broken into Sakura's home via her window, remembered swaying when the poison reached his system, and marvelling at the paranoia behind booby-trapping one's window not once but twice.

He'd been naïve then. Refusing to acknowledge what had been right in front of him, and that was the sheer capability of the shinobi Sakura regularly fought against. In light of that, the fact that he had been able to walk away from his stint of home-invasion had been a mercy.

"I have been told I'm rather difficult to kill." He shot back, a few seconds too late for it not to be awkward, but Sakura just rolled with it, quirking a wry smile.

"I'm sorry for invading your privacy though. I needed answers but…I probably could've gotten them, uh, some other way?" he didn't mean to end it on a question, but while he recognised – in hindsight – that breaking into his old teammate's home was not on the list of Okay Things To Do, he still wasn't sure he would've been able to find the information he'd needed someplace else.

"Thanks." Sakura snorted quietly, then she gazed down at Shikamaru's sleeping figure in her lap with such softness and tenderness on her face that Naruto had to fight the urge to avert his eyes.

"I apologise, too." She said eventually, and he almost got whiplash with how fast he turned to look at her, certain he'd misheard.

"I've never been fair to you. I hated your naivete and black-and-white worldview, don't get me wrong, but I also envied you, in a way. Being able to keep your rose-tinted glasses for as long as you did – or being able to remain positive and optimistic despite the shit you must've seen and experienced – it's a privilege, or a skill I'll never master."

She swallowed, and Naruto thought that would be it, but she seemed to rally and continued.

"So, I'm sorry. Through our genin days, I always felt like I was playing catch-up, and then when I finally did catch up, I was too desperate to not be left behind again that I didn't consider anybody else's desires but mine. It was me, my plan for the future, and my partner against the world. And while I don't regret it, I do recognise that I was…selfish, and unfair, to you especially. Sorry, Naruto."

Naruto was aware he was gaping like a fish, trying desperately to process the words he never thought he would hear, but before he could speak, another voice interrupted them.

"What is this, therapy hour?" came a familiar, mocking drawl, and Naruto felt himself perking up.

"Sasuke!" he exclaimed, at the same time as Sakura closed her eyes and sighed a resigned 'Sasuke…', the contrast between their greetings visibly amusing the last Uchiha.

"That's harsh even for you, Sakura." Sasuke scoffed, ignoring Naruto, and leant against a tree in perfect sight of Sakura and Naruto alike, not quite companionable but not hostile either.

"I wish I could say this is a pleasant surprise, Sasuke." Sakura sighed, and this time she sounded unmistakeably tired, weary beyond her years. "Alas."

"Now, don't be like that, Otokage-sama." Sasuke shot back, feigning hurt, the edge of mocking still in his voice, and while Naruto puzzled over the unusual title he addressed Sakura with, he didn't miss the way the rosette stiffened, or the way her posture shifted from 'loose and relaxed' to 'coiled and waiting to strike'.

"How?" Sakura asked sharply, her fingers spasming in Shikamaru's hair before she seemed to forcibly relax them and resumed her earlier motions.

"Karin." Sasuke replied simply, almost boasting, but Naruto noticed the way the raven kept his eyes solely on Sakura, his posture defensive, knees bent. Wary.

Scared. Kurama cooed in his head, voice laced with unbridled joy. The snake in the grass against a mongoose.

Shut up. Naruto scolded, frowning, even as his eyes tracked his teammates' movements. Sakura-chan wouldn't.

(Kurama's mocking laughter told him he wasn't as convincing as he'd hoped.)

"You may have bought her loyalty but she was mine first." Sasuke continued, and Sakura sighed, the fight bleeding out of her, her head falling back against the trunk again as her eyes slipped shut.

"People aren't property, Sasuke." She murmured, almost patronising, ignorant as to how Sasuke twitched at her complete dismissal of him as a threat. "Just, for once, please keep your mouth shut about this."

"Scared?" Sasuke taunted, crossing his arms over his chest for good measure. "Or ashamed?"

Sakura peered at him, her eyes half-lidded, her posture and expression radiating boredom. Then, she smirked, her eyes glinting dangerously, and Naruto was reminded of the Kiri-nin he'd seen around her a few times; apex predator.

"Scheming." She purred, and Sasuke startled visibly as her eyes shut again, the very picture of relaxation.

Sasuke scoffed again, but finally gave in and slid down the tree-trunk until he too was sitting down, and Naruto could almost pretend they were all genin again, waiting for Kakashi to show up to training.

Only they weren't. They'd just survived a war, Sakura was a jounin, Naruto was half-way to mastering Sage Mode, and Sasuke wasn't even a Konoha shinobi anymore.

Naruto looked between his two old teammates, a frown creasing his brow.

"I feel like I'm missing something." He announced, and Sakura and Sasuke both snorted at his words, before Sasuke's expression turned aghast, his grudge against their female teammate clearly not yet forgotten.

"To the surprise of no-one." He muttered under his breath, and Naruto ignored the jab, no matter how much it reminded him of the less-fun parts of their genin days.

"Well?" Sasuke turned to Sakura, raising an expectant eyebrow despite her eyes still being shut. "Wanna explain?"

Sakura must've sensed his gaze on her, or realised that Naruto wasn't going to answer, because her eyes slid open to half-mast, almost feline, and she made a disagreeing sound in her throat as she lightly shook her head.

"Hell no. I'm not doing honesty-hour first, no thanks, Sasuke." She denied, then that lazy green-eyed gaze sharpened and turned to Naruto. "How about you, Naruto? Have you got any plans for after the war?"

Naruto felt himself fidget under that inquisitive look, reaching up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Uh, well, I'll probably ask Neji for a position as the civilian liaison? Before all this I was writing a petition with Tenten to give non-Clan kids some other options beyond, y'know, being a shinobi or an akasenko." When Sakura just stared at him blankly, as if his words were not computing in her brain, he started rambling.

"We're thinking, like, apprenticeships in the civilian districts or the Intelligence Division, or- or in the Academy as mentors and whatnot. And then just make sure that the Village government represents all its citizens, and that it represents them fairly, y'know?"

"That's…" Sakura murmured, her eyes no longer half-lidded but wide and focused entirely on him. "That's incredible, Naruto." And a smile bloomed on her face, small but sincere, and Naruto felt his cheeks grow hot. "And incredibly mature of you."

"Yeah, well." he averted his gaze and ripped up some grass absently while he tried to formulate an answer. "I know it took me a while to get there but- I think I will be happy with that. I guess I'm just a late bloomer."

"Hey, eighteen isn't late to decide what you want to do with your life." Sakura denied, something almost maternal in her voice. "Sasuke and I were just…uniquely motivated."

Sakura's words made Sasuke let out a startled chuckle, and he turned to the girl with an incredulous expression.

"'Uniquely motivated'?" he echoed, his voice sounding choked-up, as if with barely restrained amusement. "Now I see why you're the diplomat, fucking hell."

And Sakura, in the biggest twist of the entire conversation, just tipped her head back and laughed.

"What do you want me to say, Uchiha?" she asked through her mirth. "'Insane'? 'Filled to the brim with unhealthy coping mechanisms'? 'In desperate need of therapy before we even grew out of teenage acne'?" she laughed again, and even Sasuke allowed the corner of his lips to curl up in a small smirk.

"I think 'fucked up' would suffice." He offered, dry as the desert, drawing more startled laughter from Sakura.

"I think that might be the only thing we'll ever agree on." Sakura wheezed, lifting a hand in a mockery of a toast, then she asked, "And what about you, then? What are your grand plans for the future?"

Sasuke sobered, the smirk dying a sudden death, his expression growing pinched, before he sighed and looked away.

"I asked Tsunade to take me on."

"You did what?" Naruto exclaimed, unable to stop himself, and a quick glance at Sakura proved that he wasn't the only one completely flabbergasted.

"'Take you on' like, in open combat? Or…?" she mumbled, eyes wide, her shock making her fingers freeze in their nigh-ritualistic motion in Shikamaru's hair.

Sasuke looked at them both like they were cockroaches he'd just found in his bathroom, then grit his teeth in obvious frustration, but stayed stubbornly silent.

"Like…an apprentice?" Naruto hazarded, and the Flames O' Doom Sasuke had been glaring at them subsided a little.

Only a little, though.

"But…not in the Leaf." Sakura guessed, although it was a statement, not a question. "Huh. Seems like Neji will get the hat much earlier than any of us expected."

"She gave me a month." Sasuke bit out, and Naruto's eyes widened as he finally connected the dots.

"Are you going to learn medical jutsu?" he asked, at the same time Sakura murmured, "I can't exactly imagine you as a vagabond."

"God, you're both so annoying." Sasuke groaned, running a hand down his face, but he stayed put, and Naruto traded a quick grin with Sakura, who looked peeved at the reappearance of Sasuke's favourite adjective, but satisfied.

"I don't want to kill anymore, alright?" Sasuke burst out, surprising them both. "I know I'm good at it, but I don't want it. I've had enough."

"That's…understandable." Sakura offered, though her tone made it clear that she didn't expect that kind of declaration from Sasuke.

Sasuke too must've realised that, because he scoffed and adamantly did not meet either of their gazes.

"My brother was the most powerful shinobi I've ever known, and will likely ever know." He explained, and there was none of the bitterness or jealousy Naruto had expected to hear in his voice. "And he traded his life for mine using a forbidden jutsu he shouldn't have even known."

"Well." Sakura sighed, and she seemed contemplative and…relieved. "I guess not even Kakashi could've predicted this, hm?"

When Naruto and Sasuke both turned to look at her, Sasuke's eyebrow a clear demand of 'explain, now', she grinned wryly.

"Jiraiya." She pointed at Naruto.

"Tsunade." Her finger switched to point at Sasuke.

"And Orochimaru." She finally jerked her thumb to point at herself, and with a deep breath, moved to unwind the bandages Naruto only just registered around her wrist.

When they fell away, a black tattoo of a snake was revealed, stark against her pale skin, and something in Sasuke's expression twitched when he saw it, though he kept his mouth shut.

"Before he died, Orochimaru gave this to me." She indicated the tattoo, then lifted her hand from Shikamaru's back to his temple and swept it over his ear, and Naruto felt as if the air pressure changed and his ears were about to pop, but Shikamaru didn't move.

"Along with it, he gave me Otogakure." She finished, and suddenly, Naruto understood.

"He gave you the Village?!" he demanded, incredulous, but Sasuke was unbothered by the news. "Why?"

And Sakura shrugged.

"To a certain extent, the people who compared me to him weren't…wrong, per se." she offered carefully. "And Sasuke was dead at that point."

"And I wouldn't have wanted it anyway." Sasuke butted in, drawing a startled glance from Sakura. "I'm not made for subtlety and politicking."

Sakura snorted, and Sasuke's smirk resurfaced for a second, but Naruto was still not over the fact that Sakura was suddenly a kage, or that she was, for whatever reason, okay with being compared to Orochimaru.

"Sakura-chan, he experimented on children." He stressed, and Sakura just nodded, as if that was par the course.

"Yeah, he did." She acknowledged. "And though there is the aspect of the slavery seal to consider, I know it doesn't absolve him of everything. I know Orochimaru did horrendous, horrifying things, Naruto. And I'm not apologising for him or trying to make excuses. He was, by most people's yardstick, an awful person."

"But?" Naruto pressed, hearing what Sakura wasn't saying, and almost dreading the answer.

"But he was a fantastic shinobi." She replied, the emphasis on the word not lost to the blond, nor the hint of admiration in her voice that made Kurama stir curiously.

"And, frankly, I've had a lot of time and opportunity to look within myself and study my motivations under a microscope over the last few years, though not always voluntarily." She directed the end of her sentence at Sasuke with a meaningful glance, and the Uchiha had the grace to look away and scowl, though he didn't contest her words.

"And, if you asked me a year or two ago – Naruto, look at me, this is important," Naruto jerked his gaze to meet Sakura's, unaware that he'd unconsciously looked away and screwed his eyes shut, like a child bracing for bad news.

"If you told me a year or two ago that the only way to protect Genma, or senpai, or Shikamaru-" Sakura swallowed when her voice wobbled on Shikamaru's name, but stubbornly held his gaze and barrelled on, "-if I knew that the only way to protect them was to experiment on children, do you honestly think I wouldn't have done it?"

Naruto felt chilled to the bone.

Kurama, on the other hand, rumbled only one word from deep in his mind, sounding satisfied and almost as if he were reminiscing. Tobirama.

And then, wrenched from memories that weren't his, a white-haired, red-eyed man with a happuri on his face appeared next to Sakura in his mind's eye. The expression on his face – sharp, narrow eyes glinting with challenge, mouth like a flat, severe brushstroke, a single eyebrow raised in obvious question – was a mirror of the expression Sakura currently wore.

There was no remorse in their eyes – not in Sakura's, and not in Kurama's memory. Only cold conviction and the resigned look of somebody who had shed their morality like a snake sheds skin.

The ends justified the means for Tobirama, always.

"Don't be so dramatic." Sasuke scoffed, and Naruto startled, having forgotten the raven was there during his horrified contemplation of their female teammate. "None of us are saints."

When Naruto turned to look at him, on either side of Sasuke were two men, both clearly Uchiha, one so similar in appearance that he could've been Sasuke's twin brother, the other one with hair so long and spiky he could've given Jiraiya a run for his money. Both regal and poised, dressed in battle-armour and unshakeable self-confidence.

Madara and Izuna. Powerful, ambitious, and single-minded to the point of folly.

And me? Naruto asked, not sure what prompted Kurama's sudden trip down memory-lane, but almost morbidly curious despite himself.

Hashirama. And there wasn't a trace of hesitation in the kyuubi's voice, though he didn't elaborate.

"I guess." Naruto gave in at last, and it seemed that his words were what Sakura and Sasuke needed to release tension he hadn't even noticed they were carrying. He licked his lips, the phantoms of long-dead legends dissolving from his vision, until all he could see were Sakura and Sasuke, in all their exhaustion and weariness and grief.

His first teammates, his first enemies, his first heartbreaks.

"So…I guess this really is the end of Team Seven, huh?" he asked, almost rhetorically, expecting scorn and mockery, but Sakura surprised him by offering a small, sad smile, while Sasuke looked almost- would've looked almost fond if his facial muscles knew how to make that expression.

"Our dynamics as genin were built on sandcastles and shallow waters." Sakura murmured, as if talking quieter made her words hurt less. "They had no chance of withstanding the pressure of time or shinobi life."

Sasuke sighed, his eyes sliding shut, the expression on his face the most at-peace Naruto had ever seen it, and he nodded at Sakura's assessment.

"But…we're talking now, aren't we? We're not fighting, or trying to kill each other." Naruto pointed out, not quite pleading, but he felt it was important they acknowledge the fact.

"Keep talking and that might change." Sasuke warned, not opening his eyes, earning an exasperated 'goddamnit Sasuke' from Sakura, though her lips were quirked in a half-smile.

"Naruto, I will never understand you." She announced frankly, unapologetic. "Sasuke, we've been the villains in each other's stories longer than we'd ever been teammates." Sasuke nodded again, though it was slower, curious.

"I don't want to go back to the days of Team Seven." Sakura continued. "And with you, Naruto, in Konoha, me in Oto, and Sasuke wherever the hell he will be, it wouldn't even work."

She licked her lips, her expression hesitant, before it morphed into one of determination.

"But, I have it on good authority that I'm an excellent pen-pal." She carried on, and Sasuke's eyes snapped open, the look on his face disbelieving. "I wouldn't be opposed to…trying to build something out of this."

"You are categorically insane." Sasuke declared, his eyes wide, his words definitive. "Once I learn the goddamn jutsu, yours is the first head I'm checking because there's something wrong in there."

"You're all insane, as far as I'm aware." Came a hoarse voice that didn't belong to either Sakura or Sasuke, and they all jumped, until Shikamaru shifted in Sakura's lap and a single dark eye slid open to take in their impromptu bonding session.

"Shika." Sakura sighed, adjusting her position so Shikamaru could lay more comfortably, then asked, "How long were you awake?" and Naruto was sure he wasn't imagining the edge of worry in her voice.

"Roughly from where you turned into a poet and started waxing about sandcastles and shallow waters." The Nara informed her through a yawn, and Sakura relaxed, before Shikamaru narrowed his eyes on her thoughtfully. "Did you put me under a genjutsu?"

"I'm not sorry." Sakura replied, though she lifted her hand in the universal gesture for surrender. "You needed the rest."

"I knew that was a genjutsu!" Sasuke crowed, triumphant. "He was too damn still, even for a Nara."

"You didn't know shit, Sasuke." Sakura bit back, though there was no heat in it. "Now, be quiet, the adults are talking."

And, amidst Sasuke's indignant scowl, Sakura's fond smile, and Shikamaru's quiet lecture about 'consent, Sakura, shit's important', Naruto found himself laughing.

No, they would never be a team. And no, he would likely never get his dream of team-as-family. But, even with how different and distant and simply fucked up they all were in their own rights, they could, one day, be friends.

And that could be enough.

After the completely unexpected although unimaginably cathartic conversation she'd had with Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura left Shikamaru in his mother's arms and wandered off. She denied Yoshino's insistence that she stay, recognising that the woman's need for her son outweighed the comfort Sakura drew from Shikamaru's presence, and asked only if she'd seen Genma anywhere.

Sakura could feel his chakra in the Hiraishin seal on her arm, knew that he was alive and drew comfort from that, but her chakra was acting weird. Too weird for her to dare trying medical ninjutsu, so weird that she hadn't noticed when the Temple of Nirvana illusion she'd cast on Shikamaru had dropped. As much as she would appreciate having Genma by her side, she knew that trying space-time manipulation in her current state was less of a justifiable risk and more in the territory of sheer stupidity.

So, she wandered around the woods for hours, losing track of what was the Land of Rice Fields and what was the Land of Fire, steering clear of the remnants of battlefields and impromptu camps that had been set up, not in the mood to socialise despite the way it warmed her heart to see shinobi from different Villages interacting like old friends.

And then, she saw him.

Sitting on the banks of a stream, eyes trained unblinkingly on the running water, hair loose and wild and matted into spikes with dried blood, jagged towers and crushed pillars of ice surrounding him in a ten-metre radius.

A fallen king in an abandoned chess game.

Yuki.

As if he heard her thoughts, the assassin's eyes snapped from the stream to her, pinning her in place with the intensity of his bloodshot gaze. He blinked, and then, before Sakura had a chance to react, he was suddenly in front of her, his arms wrapping around her, crushing her to his chest, his hands claw-like, clutching at her back, his fingers holding on so tightly it hurt.

It was only then that Sakura realised he was crying.

"Ssh." She soothed, turning her head so her cheek was pressed to Yuki's collarbone, her forehead resting against the junction of his shoulder and neck. She wished she could reach up and run her fingers through Yuki's hair, having already discovered that it calmed him as much as the gentle, repetitive motion calmed her, but her arms were pressed against her sides, restrained in Yuki's tight embrace.

"Ssh, c'mon, I've got you." She murmured, twisting her arm as much as she could without disturbing the raven until she could turn her hand and grab his hip, her grip firm, grounding. Something within her broke when she felt the way Yuki – unshakeable, invincible, larger-than-life Yuki – shook and trembled under her hand, though he made no sound.

She wondered, absently, because she was sometimes a masochist, how long it had been since Yuki had allowed somebody to catch him like this. Or how long it had been since he'd last allowed himself to break down like this.

She didn't think she wanted to know.

Sakura let the desperate hug go on for some time – seconds, maybe minutes, she had no real way of measuring, then she got her other hand on Yuki's hip and lightly pushed.

"Hey." She murmured, keeping her voice soft and gentle, and pushing again, just with her thumbs. "Look at me? Please?"

Slowly, as if it physically hurt, Yuki relaxed the grip he had on her back and pulled away enough that she could see his face, though Sakura didn't let him get out of her arms' reach.

"Hi." She whispered, raising her hands to his cheeks and cradling his face between her palms as she studied him for a few seconds.

Even with red-rimmed eyes, eyelashes stuck together with tears, viridian eyes fever bright, and his face bloodied and bruised, Yuki was gorgeous. Beautiful the way lightning was beautiful, ephemeral yet deadly; or the way foxglove, oleander, or azalea were beautiful, pretty yet poisonous.

A tiny part of her briefly mourned a 'what-could-have-been' before she crushed it and offered a small, wobbly smile.

She ignored the lump that formed in her throat and used her thumbs to wipe away Yuki's tears as much as she could, though it quickly proved a lost cause.

"Walk with me?" she asked instead, still whispering, as she dropped her hands from his face to his wrists and tugged gently.

Yuki came easily, still silent, his tears still refusing to stop, and Sakura tugged and pulled until they reached a tree and she slid down against it, pulling him down with her, a mimicry of the position she'd held Shikamaru in what felt like years ago, though was only mere hours earlier.

"Let me catch you?" she murmured, her eyes burning, her hand at the nape of Yuki's neck, fingers scratching gently – always gently, despite the irony, and oh, what a contradiction they made – craning her head down to press a soft kiss to his hair.

Yuki laughed, a wet, fragile sound.

"And will you let me catch you, after?" he asked, aware that they were both strangers to reciprocity, and his voice was as wrecked as Sakura felt, and she smiled, despite herself, when the first tear spilled down her cheek and she finally realised the reasons behind the burning in her eyes and the lump in her throat.

"You already have." She replied, her voice muffled as the dam finally broke and she allowed herself to cry the way she had planned to hold off until she had Genma nearby.

She'd cried with Shikamaru, in sympathy and understanding, had mourned Ao and Shikaku, but she hadn't allowed herself to break down fully, had known that no matter how weighed down she felt, Shikamaru needed someone to be his anchor, and he'd always come first.

But here, with Yuki, Sakura allowed herself to cry and break down and mourn without restraint. She cried for Shikaku and Shikamaru, for Ao and Chojuro, for Ino and Chouji, though at least for them, there was still hope. She cried for Anko, and prayed to all the gods she no longer believed in for her senpai's recovery.

She cried for Itachi and Sasuke, and Jiraiya and Tsunade.

She allowed herself to cry for Orochimaru.

They sat like that as the sun set and the sky grew darker, as dusk gave way to the chill of night, getting up only once or twice to wash off the grime and gunk that came after extended crying, and to relieve themselves.

As the stars twinkled in the night sky, Sakura looked at the silhouettes of the ice towers that refused to melt and hummed a quiet, "Hyouton?"

"The kid Zabuza adopted?" Yuki murmured, his voice sleepy, but clear, his cheeks finally dry. "My first cousin from my mother's side."

"Hm." Sakura hummed, and left it there.

There would be time, later. Years, if they were lucky.

Some time later, Sakura blinked her eyes open to the sight of the first rays of sunlight glittering between the trees, and calloused fingers lightly tracing the seal-tattoo on her wrist she'd forgotten to cover.

"A souvenir?" Yuki hummed, open-ended, no hidden weight behind the words, and Sakura smiled.

"A legacy." She whispered, equally quiet, and turned her hand until she could intertwine her fingers with Yuki's wandering ones. "One I'd like your help upholding, if you're willing."

She felt him smile where his cheek was still pressed against her shoulder, and relaxed. An acquiesce, without a second's hesitation, and a mutual, unspoken agreement: later.

They could talk later. They had the time, now.

They survived.

Kakashi…wasn't doing great.

At least according to Genma, who hadn't stopped fussing around him since Aoba had stopped fussing around him.

"You need to eat something." Genma argued again, stern and maternal at once, and on any other day, Kakashi would've made some sarcastic comment or rolled his eyes or told Genma that nagging wasn't becoming of him, or something to that extent.

As it was, however, he shook his head, not daring to open his mouth to speak for the same reason he didn't dare try to eat anything just yet, despite the fact that it had been a full day since the battle;

Every time his mind wandered back to that last fight, to what he had done, he heard the chirp of the Sword of the Thunder God and relived, in perfect technicolour, the moment he-!

Kakashi felt bile rise up his throat and turned away to gag, though he spat less than a mouthful, his stomach empty to the point the cramps and hunger pangs had long faded into background noise.

Genma's face softened with sympathy, the lines around his eyes growing more pronounced in his worry as he held out a bottle of water, adamantly refusing to leave his post by Kakashi's side despite the amount of times the Copy-nin had tried to lose him.

Grudgingly, Kakashi took the bottle and took two tiny sips; one to wash his mouth out and spit, the other to soothe the burn in his throat, then handed it back. He had stopped bothering with his mask, giving up on it after the second time he almost vomited through it when his mind flashed back to the squelch of the sword piercing eyes and brain matter and-!

"Kakashi." Genma sighed, exasperated and concerned at once when Kakashi coughed again as his stomach churned at the near-flashback, then screwed the lid back on the metal canteen and carried on; "At least have a protein pill. You'll pass out at this rate."

Kakashi shook his head again, no. But before he had a chance to react beyond that, there was a genjutsu around his senses that made his limbs feel like they were made of lead and a weight on his thighs. Then, a hand was suddenly prying his jaw open like one would a dog's as another shoved a pill down his throat and held his mouth shut until he swallowed.

"I wasn't asking." Genma growled, meeting Kakashi's glare with his own. "On god, we're going to get you some therapy as soon as we're back in the Village, but that won't do shit if you starve yourself to death in the meantime."

Kakashi glared then opened his mouth beneath Genma's hand, snapping his teeth at anything he could reach. The other man, not having expected the childish retribution, was a second too slow in snatching his hand back, and Kakashi's sharp canines lived up to their purpose and dug deep into the fleshy part of Genma's palm, tearing the skin until it bled.

"Bastard." Genma hissed, fingers falling into the seal of concentration as he called up medical chakra to his uninjured hand to heal the bite. "You're as feral as the wolf spirits you claim no longer exist."

"Why won't you just let me die?!" Kakashi snarled through gritted teeth, a non-sequitur, his emotions no longer his own, his limbs still heavy even though the small, still-rational part of his brain realised that Genma had dropped the genjutsu when he was bitten.

"Because you were happy!" Genma hissed back, still all-but straddling Kakashi's thighs, fingers once again digging into his jaw, now almost to the point of pain. "You were happy and mentally stable and fulfilled and spending time with the living for a change! And you can have that again! You just need to not do anything stupid until then!"

"Stupid?" Kakashi echoed, aware that his voice had lost its vicious edge and was instead all cold anger and bitter fury. "'Stupid' like killing the last member of my pack? Or 'stupid' like not even letting him finish the last words he would ever say in this life? Or maybe 'stupid' like killing him so thoroughly that I made his brain useless for the Yamanaka because I fried it like an egg?!"

But Genma just sighed and slumped, shifting half-off of Kakashi with a relieved, "Finally." and that reaction threw Kakashi so much he actually paused.

As if sensing his confusion, Genma cracked a small smile that had probably once been a grin.

"You can't begin to move past something unless you acknowledge it." He informed Kakashi, which helped not at all. "Now, will you please eat something? A squirrel would have more chakra than you right now."

Kakashi blinked, his brain struggling to catch up.

"You…manipulated me?" he asked at last, testing the word in his mouth, his anger almost forgotten.

Genma just laughed, the sound tired but genuine, his earlier ire nowhere to be seen.

"My kid is in T&I, Hatake." He pointed out good-naturedly. "And unlike some people, I'm no stranger to therapy."

Then, a granola bar was being shoved almost under his nose, and Kakashi had no more defences for why not to take it. The victorious glint in Genma's eyes when Kakashi took his first bite of real food in over 48 hours further relaxed the vice that had been steadily tightening around his lungs.

"You're a good friend." He announced, a propos nothing, and delighted in the way Genma twitched, not having expected the genuine compliment. "Thank you."

Genma blinked, then his smile became a smidge wider, a touch more genuine. "Gai would kill me if I let anything happen to you." He replied, and Kakashi inclined his head in agreement, a tiny smile tugging at his own lips. "Even if it was your own damn fault."

Kakashi shot Genma a glare for the remark, but it slid off of the other jounin like water off a duck, unable to even dent his infallible good humour. Instead, Kakashi took another bite of the granola bar, and if he was a tad more vicious in his chewing than was strictly necessary, well. Who was going to call him out on it?

Then, Genma froze and his smile vanished, and he was suddenly in Kakashi's space, yanking up his mask and knocking his granola bar out of his hands in his fervour.

And Kakashi realised why, as no more than a second later, Tsunade strolled into the small clearing they'd claimed, her eyes falling on the two jounin expectantly.

"Ah, Hatake, Shiranui, finally." She greeted, and Kakashi got a bad feeling. "I need you to find your kid, Shiranui. The other kage want a report of the battle with Obito."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Genma replied, and Tsunade nodded, satisfied, then left the clearing as quickly as she'd appeared.

"…Thanks." Kakashi managed at last and resolved to get his act in order, because he should've sensed her coming, damn it.

"Don't mention it." Genma waved him off, then heaved himself to his feet, offering a hand out for Kakashi to take and dropping one of his tagged senbon as he did. "Wanna come along?"

Kakashi prepared himself for a variety of scenes in the few seconds it took Genma to get them to their feet and into a side-along Hiraishin, but he still wasn't ready for what he actually saw once they landed near Sakura.

A quick glance around proved that they were deep in the Land of Fire, the trees greener and the climate drier than the humid Land of Rice Fields. Sakura sat against one of the looming trees their land was known for, her eyes closed, head tipped back, her face scratched and bruised but clean, her expression at peace.

Between her legs, however, curled up like a cat, lay the Terror of the Mist, a man whose legend and bogeyman status had only grown in the last few days as tales of his battles spread. Now, though, he was…just a man. Curled as he was in Sakura's lap, with the girl's hand in his hair, he looked…small; dwarfed by his skirt and kimono, the fabric fanning out around him.

Kakashi realised with a start that the assassin was sleeping. And sleeping soundly at that, from the look of things, as he didn't even twitch when he and Genma landed.

Sakura didn't twitch either, but a single green eye slid open, curious and cat-like, and a smile bloomed on her face when she saw Genma. She reached out, lifted up the hand not currently petting the sleeping assassin's hair, and Genma was suddenly there, grasping it, falling to his knees by her side with obvious relief.

Sakura raised her head and tilted it towards her partner, and Genma ducked his until their foreheads bumped gently, a comfort, a check-in, and a reassurance all in one, no words needing to be exchanged.

I'm here. The gesture said. I'm alright. We made it.

Kakashi fought the urge to avert his eyes, feeling raw and out of place, but he couldn't quite stop himself from fidgeting, his feet shuffling the tiniest bit.

Unfortunately, for a shinobi trained as an assassin, and a genjutsu master at that, even such a small movement had no chance of escaping unnoticed. Sharp green eyes fell on him, a question in the arch of the eyebrow, and Kakashi sighed.

"The Council of Kages needs to talk to you." He informed her simply, answering the unspoken question. "They want to talk about the battle."

Sakura sighed, and she looked almost mournful as she glanced at the sleeping assassin in her lap. "Can it wait?"

Kakashi would admit to doing a double-take.

Genma, it seemed, had long gotten used to Sakura's complete disregard for authority and the chain of command, and there was laughter in his voice when he said; "It's a summon from all five Kage, kiddo."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, contemplative as her gaze flickered from Genma to Kakashi, the expression on her face screaming 'so it can't wait?' louder than if she'd voiced it. Then, she glanced down, and Kakashi would have paid a lot of money to know what went on in her mind before she sighed, this time clearly resigned.

"Hey." she murmured, voice going low and soft, her attention focused entirely on the Terror now, the hand she had in his hair shifting to his shoulder and upper arm in an attempt to rouse him.

The assassin shifted, dazed green eyes sliding open, then, before either Kakashi or Genma had a chance to react, he uncoiled like a whip, and there was suddenly a flat, kiridashi knife pressed to Sakura's throat, hard enough to draw blood.

Genma full body twitched, and Kakashi almost opened Kamui right in the assassin's back, but Sakura didn't even blink, merely held Yuki's gaze until it lost the wild, disoriented edge.

"Pinky-chan." the assassin sighed, dropping the knife and ducking his head until his forehead rested on Sakura's shoulder.

Kakashi had a prime view of the assassin's back when it tensed tighter than a bowstring as he undoubtedly realised that there were more people in the clearing than he had assumed.

"You have to leave." The raven concluded, though it was a statement, not a question.

"For now." Sakura agreed, shooting Genma a weighted look Kakashi couldn't even begin to understand. "I'll come find you later?"

"You better." The assassin grumbled, and then he was pulling away and pushing to his feet and extending a hand to help Sakura up, which she took.

Once he hefted her to her feet, he used the grip he had on Sakura's hand to pull her closer and plant a chaste kiss on her hairline. Then, he was gone, no smoke nor disturbance in the leaves to betray him.

"Ready?" Genma asked, stepping closer to take the Terror's place, and Sakura smiled, deceptively strong arms wrapping around Genma's waist in a quick hug, then she stepped back and nodded.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." She conceded, and Kakashi moved towards the duo so Genma could grab his sleeve too and tug them all along in the second side-along Hiraishin in as many minutes.

"Sakura." Tsunade greeted with a sigh once they stepped into the impromptu meeting room, which was really a medical tent that had been emptied of supplies and Tenzo-fied to include chairs and a round table, and Kakashi saw his old student startle at the casual address.

Kakashi bit back a snort at the masquerade of status and procedure; really, they were all just killers playing at democracy, an illusion of stability and respect, the kage as the benevolent kings and the shinobi force as the obedient people.

If there was anything the war had done, it was prove that, every once in a while, a wrench was thrown into the idyllic play-pretend the shinobi nations engaged in; a massacre here, a defection there, a world war, and poof! The illusion shattered like glass.

Now was one of those times.

Sakura nodded in acknowledgement of Tsunade's greeting, but chose to remain silent, clearly expectant, waiting for an explanation.

That, too, was new, Kakashi realised. He wondered how Genma dealt with it, because he sure felt that every time he looked away, Sakura changed drastically.

"We need an account of the final battle with Uchiha Obito." Kurotsuchi spoke up, when Tsunade didn't carry on, meeting Sakura's gaze with a small nod of recognition. "You're the only survivor who can account for what went on in those minutes between Uchiha Sasuke dying and Hatake-san showing up."

"Aa." Sakura acknowledged slowly, a frown creasing her brow. "Where should I start?"

"How about with how you got to Otogakure? I received reports from my shinobi that put you on the Ame front in the third wave mere minutes before you were somehow on the other side of the Land of Fire." The Raikage suggested, snide and snotty, Sakura's behaviour at the Kage Summit clearly a sore spot for the beast of a man.

"I can use a modified Hiraishin, Raikage-sama." Sakura replied evenly, politely ignoring the way the new Tsuchikage startled at the news.

Kakashi reasoned even if the girl hadn't been alive for the Third War, she'd heard enough about Minato's unique prowess to be wary of the technique.

And anyone who could use it, by extension.

"How did you know to go to Otogakure, Sakura-chan?" the Mizukage asked quietly, looking visibly tired, grief and fatigue lining her usually radiant face.

Sakura blinked at the question, while Kakashi saw Kurotsuchi do a double-take at the unusually friendly address.

"I…received a message from Orochimaru, Mei-sama." Sakura answered, her fingers twitching in a way Kakashi couldn't identify, but the Mizukage clearly could, because she shook her head with a small smile and mouthed 'later'.

She knows Kiri sign. Kakashi realised with a start, and saw the exact moment the other kage realised the same. While Sakura was officially registered as an Ambassador to Mist, knowing the hunter-nin secret language was definitely outside of the expectations of the average diplomat.

He wondered if she realised how loaded such a small gesture was.

One look at her face told him that she knew it perfectly, but simply didn't care.

"How?" Gaara rasped, and Kakashi was quickly growing bored of that question.

It was Sakura – a 'don't ask, don't tell' approach was much easier on the nerves than asking for how she consistently kept achieving the impossible.

"We share a Summons." Sakura replied frankly, then winced, and corrected; "Shared."

"That wasn't mentioned in the Bingo Book." Kurotsuchi pointed out, a frown on her face as she scrutinised Sakura, but Sakura smiled slightly, as if sharing an inside joke with the other girl, and shrugged.

"It's a recent development." She allowed, her gaze far-away. "I've had them less than a fortnight."

"And how did you come into possession of the contract?" A rumbled, and Kakashi absently wondered whether any of his old genin students realised that Summoning Contracts were coveted in the rest of the Nations, and not talked about like one would talk about a bunch of kunai.

Probably not. Their yardstick for what counted as 'normal' or 'common' skills in shinobi their age was very, very skewed.

"I cashed in an IOU." Sakura replied, unfazed, and Tsunade twitched.

The other kage seemed to be wrapping their minds around how a simple jounin could come into possession of an IOU with the Snake Sannin, but none dared ask.

"Right. To minimise the headache I can feel coming on, let's get to the part actually in Otogakure." Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples with green-glowing fingers. "What did you see, Sakura?"

"At first, I landed away from the main battle, where Suigetsu and Karin and what remained of the Otogakure forces were battling the reanimated jinchuuriki Obito had sent after Naruto and B-san." Sakura reported dutifully, her tone bland, factual.

"When I got to Obito's battle, Uchiha Sasuke was already dead. Orochimaru had transformed into a giant eight-headed snake, while Uchiha Itachi was striking from the ground. Obito did something that disabled Orochimaru's technique and then used a bastardization of Wood Release to grievously wound Itachi; I joined the battle when I stepped in to block a blow that would've ended him."

"You joined a battle you had no chance of winning to save Uchiha Itachi's life." Mei summed up, nodding, as if that somehow checked out with what she knew of Sakura.

But the Raikage wasn't quite so easily appeased.

"Why?" he demanded, every inch of his being radiating suspicion. "He's a criminal."

"So am I." Sakura rebuffed, and though her expression remained genial, her eyes were colder than before. "So are you. So is every shinobi in the eye of the civilians." She shrugged. "I saved Itachi because I needed him."

"Go on." Tsunade ordered when Sakura looked like she was content to stop there, and Kakashi thought he heard the teen sigh.

"I am an assassin. An assassin who's a genjutsu master, at that." she informed the room at large, though only Kurotsuchi and A showed any outward reaction. "Open combat, flashy, devastating techniques, or sheer power will never be my forte; I made peace with that knowledge years ago. So, I needed Itachi and Orochimaru alive, because they could deal the hits I could only dream of."

"Why enter the battle at all?" Gaara asked, an odd note in his voice, and Kakashi saw something in Sakura soften, apparently able to identify what it was.

"Because I have my own skills, Gaara-sama. There is more to a shinobi than just brute strength." At that, she gave the Raikage's looming build a meaningful glance that absolutely nobody in the room missed, and carried on before the man could call her out on the obvious slight.

"I did my research. I knew everything there was to know about Uchiha Obito. And I knew how to use it."

This conversation was verging dangerously into territory Kakashi had been content to pretend didn't exist since he first learned of Sakura's role as an interrogator, all those years ago.

"Do share." The Raikage demanded bitingly, the earlier slight clearly not forgotten.

"The Uchiha I have had dealings with have all been powerful shinobi, but were all weak mentally. It stood to reason that Uchiha Obito would be the same." A careful shrug. "A man who painted himself as a god would never react well to being reminded that he was just a little lost boy hiding behind legends. It wasn't difficult to rattle him."

Kakashi froze.

"And since when do jounin assassins engage in psychological warfare on the battlefield?" Kurotsuchi asked sharply, her eyes narrow, and Kakashi realised that this had become less of a report on the proceedings of the battle, and more of a dangerous unveiling of just how many layers there were to his old kunoichi student.

Sakura smiled indulgingly, but the expression in her eyes was sharper than glass.

"Since they have been a Senior Interrogator in Konohagakure's Torture and Interrogation Division and apprenticed under Mitarashi Anko and Morino Ibiki for the last five years, Tsuchikage-sama." She replied lightly, and the other girl did a visible double-take at the news, clearly recognising the names.

"Why did you need him 'rattled', Sakura-chan?" Mei asked curiously, taking control of the conversation and getting the 'report' back on-track, and Sakura smiled, though it held a wry edge.

"Because I needed him to feel rage, Mei-sama." She replied sagely. "Because rage makes us careless, feral, single-minded, but most importantly, it makes us forget. And in his desperation to kill me for my nerve, Obito forgot all about his Rinnegan, his Mangekyo, his Mokuton and got up close and personal in his desire to end me. Which allowed me to use this."

Kakashi watched as Sakura held up a small sealing tag, no longer than his palm and less than a third wide.

"A seal?" Gaara asked thoughtfully, and Kakashi suddenly remembered that Naruto had said Sakura and the Kazekage had a friendly rapport going on; perhaps it wasn't unexpected, then, that he was the first to connect the dots.

"The same seal I used when I apprehended Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura replied, and this time, her expression was nothing short of vindictively satisfied. "The same seal that neutralised Obito's doujutsu. Both of his doujutsu."

Sakura let the gravity of her announcement sink in, radiating the hard-won self-assurance of somebody who knew their worth, then added, with a final shrug and a small grin;

"Then I almost got gutted like a fish and tried not to pass out from blood-loss while Orochimaru and Itachi capitalised on Obito's weakened state."

"And the maneki neko?" Tsunade pressed, and Sakura's expression turned vicious, her eyes cold, though her tone remained perfectly cordial.

"When Itachi started flagging and Orochimaru…fell, I realised we had to restrain Obito or we'd lose."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed at the way Sakura said 'fell' – he didn't know whether she was experiencing sudden sympathy for the crazed Snake Sannin, or whether she was intentionally omitting something, but he could tell something wasn't right.

He hoped against hope the kage remained oblivious, though.

"Obito killed Ibiki." Sakura continued, and Kakashi could hardly believe this was the same girl who had had a mental breakdown in the middle of a battlefield not three days earlier over the man's loss. "It seemed like poetic justice that Ibiki's summon was instrumental in Obito's own demise."

Poetic justice. Kakashi hoped he'd misheard. Alas.

"Then, Kakashi and Genma showed up, and, well. I'm sure you know the rest." Sakura concluded, and the kage sat in heavy silence for a few seconds, absorbing the mangled report.

"Girl, what are you?" the Raikage asked at last, startling the other kage, if their expressions were any indication.

"First, I'm told civilian diplomat. Then troubleshooter, then assassin, then genjutsu mistress, then interrogator, then snake summoner, then fuinjutsu expert, then somebody so well-versed in psychological warfare they can make a man we all believed to be Uchiha Madara lose composure in the middle of a battle. What are you?"

"'What am I', Raikage-sama?" Sakura echoed, as if unsure she heard correctly, then her earlier blankness fell away as if she'd shed a mask.

Her eyes glittered with amusement, a hint of mockery in the curl of her lips, then a smile spread across her face slowly, sharp, sly and serpentine.

"I'm a paper-ninja."

Sakura caught up to Mei as she left the impromptu kages meeting, only one question on her mind.

"Mei-sama, where's Chojuro?" she asked, and Mei startled, then turned to her with surprise and a hint of pity in her eyes.

"Oh, Sakura-chan, you haven't heard?" she replied, laying a hand on Sakura's shoulder and squeezing comfortingly. "Chojuro was injured in the battle. He's in the trauma tent."

Sakura's blood ran cold.

No…

"How-?" she swallowed, cleared her throat. "How bad?"

Mei's heartbroken expression told her all she needed to know. "His spine was badly damaged. They want to take him back to Konoha to operate."

"Will you- allow that?" Sakura pressed, ignoring the way her breathing grew fast and shallow, the tell-tale sign of an oncoming panic attack.

Mei looked almost insulted, then she smoothed her expression and smiled reassuringly, though Sakura could see the grief and heartbreak buried deep in her eyes.

"Of course, Sakura-chan. I want my Cho-chan to heal just as much as you do. If Konoha can grant him what Mist can't, I will give him to Konoha to take care of gladly."

"I- may I go see him? Please?" Sakura pleaded, not sure why she was asking for permission, but needing to hear it nonetheless, and Mei smiled, a single tear escaping her eye, and moved the hand she had on Sakura's shoulder to lightly cradle her cheek.

"Of course." She repeated. "And take Shikamaru-kun with you. I'm sure Chojuro will love to see you both."

"Thank you, Mei-sama." Sakura all but sobbed.

And then she was off.

Two days later, the war-front was finally ready to head back to their respective Villages. The dead were buried, the injured transported onto stretchers or willing backs, the war won.

Sakura stood next to Chojuro's stretcher, holding the bluenette's hand, while Shikamaru and Yuki held the stretcher up at both ends.

"This is so embarrassing." Chojuro groaned for the third time, and Sakura smiled fondly, squeezing his hand tightly.

"Can you walk?" Shikamaru demanded waspishly, having had the same argument twice already. "No? Then be a good boy and can it, sword-boy."

Sakura just laughed quietly even as the tips of Chojuro's ears turned red and he fell silent, while Yuki's shoulders shook with quiet laughter up ahead at the exchange. He turned slightly, shooting Sakura a wink which she returned with a grin, then looked away and tried to find Genma and Kakashi, wherever they were, all the while thinking of how lucky they had all been.

Chojuro, Shikamaru, Genma and Yuki had all survived. Chojuro's injury was bad, yes, but only because of his position as a swordsman – Sakura had cornered the Kumo med-nin who'd overseen most of Chojuro's initial treatment and bullied all the medical details out of him with great aplomb – but it was hardly life-threatening. They had lost many, some of their closest people too, but neither Shikamaru nor Chojuro blamed each other for the deaths of their father-figures, and Sakura had been telling the truth when she said that she couldn't think of a greater homage to Ibiki than making his technique instrumental to killing the bastard who had killed him.

When Sakura and Shikamaru had finally made it to Chojuro's room after Mei's bombshell, Chojuro had been awake and he'd cried upon seeing them. Then Shikamaru had burst into tears, and then Sakura had joined, and they'd both clambered onto the most uncomfortable hospital bed in the universe and tried to arrange three +170cm teenagers' limbs in such a way to a) fit, and b) not disturb Chojuro's injury, to varying degrees of success. Then Shikamaru had all but ordered hugs and nap-time, and Sakura had been content to shut out the world for a few more hours, secure in the knowledge that things could only get better from there.

She'd snuck out once she woke up and the boys were still in dreamland, after spending a good five minutes detangling herself from the mess of limbs and hair they had become, to see Karin.

The other girl had been apologetic about telling Sasuke of Sakura's new position, but Sakura had waved her off and moved onto the real reasons for her visit.

"I'll do it." She'd said, and Karin's mouth had dropped open with shock. "I'll need two months before I can get here, but I'll do it."

"Two months?" the other girl had echoed, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I could buy you that time, I think."

Sakura had almost fallen over with relief.

"Perfect. I'll need you to speak to the people we have left – any demands they have, any requests, any suggestions for how to move forward, please write it down. I'll send my summons regularly over the next two months, but I will need you to be my eyes and ears until I can physically get to Oto and talk to the people myself. Could you do that?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I could." She'd agreed with a brilliant smile, one that Sakura couldn't resist returning. "Now, before you come, I think…" and she'd launched into lecture-mode about everything she knew of Oto, things Sakura would need to bear in mind, things she hadn't even considered could be issues, and Sakura had spent over two hours bouncing ideas back and forth with Karin, and walked away feeling like she'd made a new friend along the way.

Now, headed back to Konoha, with Shikamaru and Chojuro and Yuki at her side, Genma – once she finally found him – only a few dozen metres away, and having survived a war, Sakura felt…at peace.

And, in the back of her mind, Inner was in the middle of performing an interpretative victory dance, drunk on power and adrenaline and the sheer relief of survival.

From the ashes of war, a phoenix will rise. A civilian-nobody turned kage! They thought us Orochimaru's mirror before? They'll soon learn we're in an entirely different league!