Sakura realized she was breathing heavily once the room stilled to an absolute silence. Her breath came ragged and filled the quiet pounding in her ears. She unlatched her hand from whoever she had been holding on to with a vice grip and her sword clattered to the ground but she heard it in a daze.

Was she alive? Had she really defeated Yusei?

"Sakura, you're shaking." The Pinkette looked up numbly into the blue eyes of her best friend Naruto, it had been him that had pulled her out of the void. But when did Naruto get to the Summit? Wait, if Naruto was in front of her and Sasuke was across the room...

"Get down!" She jumped to her feet and pulled Naruto out of the way of a blast of violet flames. Neji and Sai appeared flanking them, poised and ready for battle. Sasuke's susanoo was flickering around him, before it disappeared all together. He walked forward slowly, smirking madly and drawing his katana, his eyes trained solely on Naruto.

The blond haired ninja pulled himself out of Sakura's desperate grasp and turned to face his old rival with a harsh glare. Sakura scrambled to get to her feet in time, but Naruto was already about ten feet away from Sasuke and speaking.

"Sasuke, I don't want to fight you but if I have to, I will." Naruto said with little emotion, as if he had convinced him self that this was the right choice to make.

"Why do you still persist on saving me? Both of you, why can't you give up your idea that I'm still your friend?" Sasuke spat, his eyes darted between where Sakura stood on the sidelines and to Naruto who stood before him.

"Because you are, Sasuke. You'll always be our friend, my brother. If killing you is the only way to stop you, I'm sorry I failed you." Naruto spoke softly and his hands trembled at his side.

"Then you are an idiot and I look forward to killing you and Sakura." Sasuke hissed and smirked as Sakura stiffened. Why did Sasuke feel the need to destroy everything of his old life? Did he feel that threatened by them? If he did, he could have finished Sakura off countless of times when they had been traveling and fighting Yusei.

Before any action could be taken however, there was a flash of light and a swirl of black. Madara appeared above them and dropped to his feet with ease. By now the other Kage that had fled were pouring back in with their guards, and several people gasped as the masked leader of the Akatsuki took stock of the situation, then turned to face the other Uchiha.

"Sasuke, now is not the time for your fight with the Uzumaki boy. You are to tired and injured from your previous battles." He said and Sasuke's face showed that he heavily disagreed otherwise. Luckily Madara was right, Sakura could sense that Sasuke was on the brink of exhaustion. He had exerted himself to much with his new found powers.

There was another flash of light, and like that, Sasuke was gone. Sakura stiffened as Madara slowly turned to face her, she imagined he was smiling widely at her for some sick reason. Naruto glanced back at her and made to move to protect her, but Madara spoke first.

"I must thank you, Haruno, for disposing of that pest Yusei. I knew the entire time of your plot and your deception and I am impressed. You killed the one man that could have hoped to stop me." Sakura's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates as he addressed her, and let out a low chuckle as she began to shake. Had she done wrong then? Were her friends in more danger now than when they had been before under Yusei's fist?

"For that I shall spare you, for now at least. I can't say the same when we meet again."

Sakura was hyperventilating now, she barely herd Madara's final words to Naruto before he disappeared. Even when she tried to right things, she ended up messing them up even more. She tried to calm herself down, but found it difficult to breath and her vision swam.

"Let her go!" Naruto roared as Neji shoved Sakura to the ground and pulled her arms behind her. Sakura winced as he placed a firm boot on her back to keep her in place. It did hurt to think that Neji of all people did not trust her even though she had just declared her allegiance to Konoha.

"She is still considered a dangerous enemy Naruto. We don't know what she is capable of." Neji quipped professionally as her wrists were bound together with chakra suppressing cuffs.

"I think the only thing she's capable of now is passing out." Shikamaru grumbled from where he stood a few feet away.

"I'm fine, I'll cooperate." Sakura said from where her mouth was against the ground. Neji pulled her to sit up, and the world spun as her head began to rush. The toll of exhaustion was finally weighing down on her, and she felt her back begin to buckle under the pressure. Every muscle screamed, her chakra system felt dry and empty, she felt dry and empty.

Faces of all sorts swam around her, some where friends, some where strangers. They looked at her in judgement, or in awe, but none of them where Nartuo. She could hear him shouting not far away, arguing with some one as he always did. Neji's grip on her remained firm as he hauled her to her feet, and that's when she started shouting.

"Naruto! Naruto, help!" She let out the words she should have said years ago, and began to thrash about in Neji's hold.

"Sakura? Sakura, I'm coming!" Naruto yelled against the mass of people as Sakura kept screaming. She felt every last breath of madness and darkness leave her body as she screeched like a banshee, until she was silenced by a strike to her stomach.

Sakura floated along in the darkness for a while, it was not scary nor was it intimidating, but a calm caress. For once, her mind was allowing her a rest. She would catch voices every once and a while, but none caused her to stir to much. She let out a blissful sigh and wished she could remain here for a while, for her was quiet, here was calm.

"She'll be just fine, it seems like she had a panic attack and passed out. She has minor damage to her wind pipe and her chakra system took a heavy toll, nothing we can't handle though." Shizune's voice called out from somewhere and Sakura turned her head toward the familiar kind voice. It was like hearing something from another life, a better life.

"You're sure she doesn't have any more damage?" Naruto sounded on edge, as if he was at his last wits.

"Yes, surprisingly. I think it she was under more stress than anything, wouldn't surprise me, she's come a long way. Now go, you need some rest yourself." Shizune snipped impatiently. Sakura's heart jumped to her throat, she did not want to be left alone at all. Her eyes shot open and she blinked away the blurriness until the world came back to her. She winced a little and looked around for a familiar face.

Her hand shot out and caught his jacket sleeve. He spun around in surprise and looked down at her with a face mixed with shock and concern. Shizune gasped next to her and scrambled around the side of the bed.

"Don't leave me." She croaked barely audible. Naruto's eyes softened and he nodded, taking a seat next to her. His hand wrapped around her own and gently pulled her off of him as he took a seat. She began to feel herself go under again and slowly closed her eyes, holding tight to Naruto's hand to reassure herself that he was still there, that she was still there.

It was something she should have said a long time ago.

Line Break

She woke up some time later, expecting to be alone again. Sakura tried to remember the dream she had had, but it was vague and was gone before she could really think about it. She twitched her right hand and noticed it was empty, she looked around for Naruto but she was the only one in her room.

She stared out of the window directly across from her bed, it was early in the morning outside, the sky was barely illuminated blue. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes, then they flew right back open and Sakura bolted up right. She immediately regretted it because the IV she was attached to tugged painfully and she ripped it out in annoyance.

She was here, she was in Konoha. She was alive.

Sakura rolled over to her feet and stumbled awkwardly to the bathroom. The light clicked on after she ran her hand down the wall and she supported her self on the counter to look at her reflection.

A girl blinked back with a startled expression. Her hair was long, almost past her shoulders and messy from neglect. She ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to tame it, and noticed the messy red streaks had vanished. Her eyes were no longer dull either with a dead expression, but had life once more. And for the first time in a long time, her mouth pulled in to a smile.

"Where did that brat get to?" The door was flung open in her room and Sakura jumped. She ambled out of the bathroom and leaned against the door frame. A woman with a head of blonde hair swiveled her head to look at her with piercing hazel eyes and Sakura felt her stomach lurch.

"Ts-ts-tsu." She choked on the words and felt a sob rise in her chest.

"Forget how to talk?" Tsunade raised an amused eyebrow before Sakura flung herself at the woman in a messy hug.

"You're alive! You're alive!" Sakura kept saying between dry heaves. Tsunade patted her head comfortingly and when Sakura had regained her composure, she gave her a friendly smile.

"I woke up around the time Naruto and his friends decided to go screaming off to the Summit to stop you and Sasuke. I already know what happened while I was incapacitated, and I have to say, I'm unconscious for four weeks and my village goes to shit!" Tsunade chuckled at her own joke as Sakura stared at her dazedly.

"I-I killed Yusei, a Konoha shinobi. Shouldn't I be punished?" She asked in a small voice and by the look on Tsunade's face, the Hokage had hoped that she would not bring this up.

"It's a good thing the Hokage is very fond of you, isn't it? Let's get you back into bed, you can barely walk on your own." She said and steered Sakura back over to her hospital bed.

"I'm sorry though, for everything I've done these past few years, I-" Sakura winced as she was lowered on to her bed. She felt like an old woman whose body was beginning to betray her, everything hurt and the meds where wearing off.

"Save it, I'm not to fond on sappy moments. I've had enough of them to last me a lifetime." Tsunade gave her a kind smile then rest her hands on her hips. "I've got a big mess to deal with though, and that bastard Yusei got rid of all of my bottles I had laying around. Anyway, I'm not just here to check up on my favorite annoying snot-nosed shinobi, Naruto is the second of course, but in regards to your punishment."

Sakura was silent for a few seconds as she stared off in to space, then dully gave a nod of her head for Tsunade to continue.

"I managed to get a Hokage's Pardon for you, convinced the council that you had been acting with the best interests of the village at heart even if you had to go a little rogue. Itachi Uchiha even stood up for you, and they're kinda afraid of him. However, I couldn't get you fully out of hot water. You're to be decommissioned as a Konoha Shinobi, and shall be reclassified as a civilian upon this day. Any use of your abilities to cause harm or grievance to anyone shall be meet with swift punishment, yadayada, you get the picture." Tsunade rambled on to a dazed and blinking Sakura.

"That...seems fair." Sakura said slowly. In fact, it seemed less like a punishment and more like a reward. Never again would she have to pick up her sword and cause harm, never again would she be used as a weapon for another man's ambitions. Maybe she'd get a job at the Yamanaka's place, if Ino had forgiven her, at least. Tsunade was watching her intently, but seemed satisfied with whatever she was looking for.

"On a one to one note, there's still a lot to be dealt with. Madara is rallying the Akatsuki for war, and he's capable of anything. I may need you, your skills as a medic are unrivaled, and on the field you'd be a much needed asset since your skilled with combat." Tsunade explained awkwardly. Sakura's green eyes slowly slid in their sockets to meet the Hokage's hazel pair. Madara was an evil on a whole other level, but Sasuke was an animal she was responsible for. Only her and Naruto could stop him, and it was her fault those two where now gunning for Konoha with out any resistance.

"I'll be there when you need me."

A/N 2019:

Hi everyone, for those of you who might be interested, I have started the epilogue to this in a sperate fic called 'Plenus Lux'. You can find it on my profile. Thank you.