"Oh, man," Naruto groans, rubbing the back of his head, "the was hard! Forget sleeping for a week when we get home, I'm sleeping for a month!"

"You..." Jikken begins, utterly frozen in his shock, hand still reaching out aimlessly.

Sakura promptly goes to her hands and knees and throws up. Kakashi sways out of the way, only narrowly missing the spray.

"Can we...never do this again?" she pants. "Please?"

Their grand entrance has caused a momentary lull, the air heavy with a confused tension and sense of expectation. Sasuke is glad for it, as it gives him a chance to find his fotting. Even if most of the chakra to fuel their escape from the other dimension came from Kakashi and Naruto, he still feels like he did after escaping the Forest of Death—tired, aching and with bruises in places he didn't know could bruise.

There's no time to rest, however; immediately he is analyzing the scene he and his teammates have ended up in. Yet another dank cavern somewhere, with more bulky computers and wires—another of Orochimaru's lairs?—and the air thick with the smell of blood and ozone. There's a strange, yellow wall of chakra all around them, and caught immobile in the middle, he sees his future self scowling vacantly into space.

No, not into space, he realizes, turning fractionally to one side. He's staring at her.

"Oh, gross," Sakura moans, unconsciously voicing his own reaction to this enemy they have heard so much about, "is that even a person?"

"How is this possible?" the skeletal, red-eyed woman in restraints snarls, fury rolling off of her in almost tangible waves. Sasuke can't help the physical shiver at the sight of another Sharingan—one that isn't his brother's—blazing at him with such hatred.

Except for all his crimes against Sasuke, Itachi's eyes have never been hateful; distant and criticizing—even empty—but never filled with hate.

"Actually, it's thanks to you," Kakashi replies through clenched teeth. His left eye is tightly shut, and Sasuke suspects he will not longer be able to call up the Sharingan today. "I guess you've been trying to open a portal from here, and it thinned the walls between dimensions just enough for us to tag along."

"Well, this just became a whole lot more complicated," a mild, unfamiliar voice remarks from beyond the wall of chakra. A pale boy stands beside Sarada and Boruto, looking remarkably composed in contrast to their shell-shock.

Mitsuki, I guess.

Boruto is unsurprisingly the first to recover.

"What the hell are you guys doing?!" he fumes. "You're going to get us all killed!"

"Hey! Shut up and be grateful!" Naruto shoots back, unrepentant. "We're here to kick some ass and show you how it's done—!"

Kakashi gives a sudden violent, wet cough and pitches forward.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cries. Her proximity to the ground allows her to sweep under him and catch him before he hits the ground. Sakura grunts with effort, lowering him to the ground. Blood blossoms across his mask, leaking from his eyes and nose.

The movement seems to free Jikken from whatever stupor was caused by Team 7's entrance.

"Returning was a mistake!" he snarls at them. "I will rip you from time!"

He charges at Naruto.

"Dad! Look out!"

But Naruto's reflexes have always been mediocre. It is Sasuke body that snaps into movement; he yanks his supply pack from his waist with one hand and tosses it forward.

Tiger! Boar! Ox! Dog! Snake!

At the last second he snatches Naruto from the enemy's grasping hand, turning the pack into a decoy of the blond boy.

"Another distraction would be good right now," he hisses, wiling his substitution to stick around a few more seconds to occupy Jikken.

Naruto's face is open with surprise, but he nods quickly. "Right!"

A wall of orange clones appears around Jikken, just as Sasuke's substitution vanishes. "Sakura?"

"I've got Kakashi-sensei, you guys do what you have to!" she calls back, dragging their teacher away from the fight that is about to break out, and the terrifying human skeleton that is Teisōko Uchiha.

"Don't touch the barrier!" Sarada warns when Sakura starts to head for the other genin. "If you go through it, time will stop for you, the same as it did for our dads."

Good to know, Sakura decides, eying the rippling wall of chakra warily, but that means there's nowhere to get to safety!

"We have to get in there," she hears Boruto declare, but she doesn't let his words mean anything to her. The reality is plain—she and her team are on their own for now.

Naruto is just as aware of this fact, and utterly at a loss at what he's supposed to do. His very bones feel on fire from the amount of chakra that he's been drawing to him today, and at some point he's going to hit his limit. And on top of that, if Sasuke's theory is true, Jikken might not be an enemy that can ever die.

Doesn't mean I won't keep going as long as possible, but I'm beginning to miss cat-retrieval missions!

He starts to summon another bevvy of clones, but is stopped by a nudge to the side.

"Go after Teisoko," Sasuke orders, pushing himself forward, ready to face Jikken once he disperses the first wave of clones. "Even an idiot like you can hit a stationary target."

Naruto snorts—backhanded compliments are Sasuke's way, after all—but a flash of angry energy flits through him.

You cannot go up against her, the fox snarls within him. She has an evolved Sharingan and I have no intention of being controlled by another cursed Uchiha.

Damn it, Naruto thinks; the demon is right, and he can't even explain that to Sasuke. Especially not right now.

Thinking quickly, he retorts, "Oh yeah? That's your story? You sure it's not because you're scared to face Granny-No-Eyelids over there?"

Sasuke scowls. "Naruto—"

"I got this," he replies, shoving Sasuke aside with his shoulder. "Go find you own big bad villain to fight. I'll call you if I need moral support."

Sasuke blinks at this, and then smirks. "Whatever, loser. Try not to die."

He uses a Shushin to vanish.

"None of you better die!" Sarada orders, backing away from the wall of yellow chakra. "We've got a plan, so hang in there as long as possible!"

She, Boruto and Mitsuki vanish.

"No problem," Naruto mutters, just as Jikken materializes in front of him, wrath set into his features.

"Alright, you creepy, albino clone of my dad," Naruto announces, shoving a finger practically into the man's face. "Let's dance!"

He calls up another wave of shadow clones, twelve doppelgangers that encircle Jikken, each armed with a kunai. In tandem, they throw their blades at Jikken, who twists his body in a flurry of deflective movements. Despite his speed, he cannot stay completely aware at all times, and Naruto uses his distraction to sneak in beneath him and deliver a powerful uppercut, blasting him into the air.

Four of the clones seize Naruto and toss him upward as well, allowing him to fly over Jikken's head just as gravity pulls them back to the ground. The clones grab Jikken as he gets closer, immobilizing him as Naruto lands, on the man's back, driving him downward with his knees.

Only for Jikken's body to vanish beneath them and for Naruto to hit the ground painfully.

A cold wave of awareness makes the skin on the back of his neck break out into goosebumps, and Naruto barely reacts in time as Jikken's blade heads toward his shoulder with full force. Naruto only just skids out of the way, the earth where he was kneeling crumbling beneath the force of Jikken's failed blow.

The rest of Naruto's doubles now launch themselves into the air, spinning and somersaulting on their way down. They rain blows upon Jikken's head and shoulders, but the pale man is still fast enough to deflect them. He grabs hold of knees and ankles, savagely throwing them off of him. Two clones launch another headfirst at him, but Jikken dodges to one side, kicking the doppelganger in the ribs to force him to disappear. Several feet away, two remaining clones summon a Rasengan.

Meanwhile, Sasuke takes a run at Teisoko, putting on a burst of speed while keeping his eyes lowered to the ground. He doesn't know the complete list of abilities this woman and her MAngekyou Sharingan might have, but if there's anything his encounters with his brother have taught him, it is not to open himself to weakness before he has to. He just has to make it close enough to deal a fatal blow, and he doesn't need to look at her face to do that.

However, he quickly learns, she is not without her defenses.

"Sasuke! Watch out!" Sakura's warning draws his attention at the last moment

Abruptly, as Sasuke hurtles toward Teisoko, the air in front of her warbles in a familiarly worrying way. He jut skids out of that space in time to avoid a time portal. While he recovers, that one closes and another opens directly in his path, forcing him to tuck and roll to keep from slipping into it.

At this rate, she's going to trap me somewhere before I can kill her!

Sakura watches all of this wait baited breath, torn by the need to help her teammates, but knowing that Kakashi can't keep himself safe while he's unconscious. If Sarada is to be believed, his life is just as important to the future as her, Sasuke's and NArutos. On the other hand, she also knows how important it is to get to Teisoko and stop her.

She eyes the computer consoles off to the side, and the switch Jikken pulled earlier. It crackles and snaps with sparks of electricity, and the air still shimmers in the spot that brought Sakura and her team through. It might be that it's still active!

If all of Teisoko's focus is on Sasuke, and Jikken is too busy with Naruto, then neither might notice Sakura until the last moment. Maybe, just maybe, she can turn off one of the machines—or even all of them—and keep anymore portals from opening.

It's another moment of deliberation, feeling torn between saving her sensei and the chance at saving everything else, before she summons a clone to watch over Kakashi. Hopefully, the enemy will be too preoccupied with her friends to notice her slipping along the periphery.

Meanwhile, as Naruto continues to carry out his onslaught upon Jikken, he gets the sense that something is not the same as before.

He's slower, Naruto realises, diving down to avoid a stray kunai. Why hasn't he been teleporting to avoid my attacks?

Because he can't, the fox says, and sounds like he's just realized it too.

Huh? Why not?

Someone sealed his abilities. Can't you sense the seal on his belly? It's the same one that Orochimaru used on us in the Forest of Death.

Naruto is confused. Someone used a seal on us?

Forget it, you stupid kid. The point is, there's a reason he's not moving the way he was before. Either he can't move, or he's planning something. Which means now is the time to put him out of commission!

Okay, that, I get!

Naruto growls, feeling the fox's rage seeping across his body. His fingernails begin to sharpen, and he feels as if all his senses have become keener. In his imagination, he experiences a thick, red energy begin to spread across his skin. "Let''s finish this, you bastard!"

He moves in a flash.

Naruto might have found an opening, but Sasuke can't say he's had the same luck. It feels to him as if he has been dodging Teisoko's time windows forever, and each time he is a hair slower.

She's trying to tire me out.

There's no possible way of getting to her as long as she can see him coming—and with a Sharingan, that means the chance of surprising her is already low. He needs to find a way to obscure her vision in some way, but except for the one kunai, he threw the last of his ninja tools when he saved Naruto—

An idea occurs to him.

This is not going to end well, he knows, even as his fingers fly to form the requisite signs.

Drawing upon the strength deep within him, he ignites his chakra into flame and then exhales a towering inferno of fire, surrounding himself on all sides. Dropping parallel to the floor, he rolls beneath the ignited air, trying to ignore the way his skin and hair begin to char. As the flames start to recede, he jumps up and vaults his body within a foot of Teisoko's face, kunai aimed at her eyes.

Something lashes around his throat, wrist and ankle, holding him in place.

The electrical cords and tubes that connect to her skin have somehow come alive, breaching the ground in front of him to seize his limbs. Sasuke stares in horror at the lidless red eyes in front of him.

"Poor child," her raw voice takes on a perverted imitation of indulgence, "so eager to be welcomed by death. Do not worry, my little cousin—I will take good care of your eyes once I kill you."

Sasuke gasps for breath, the cord around his neck tightening, and tries to brace himself as best he can for what's about to happen.

A choking gurgle cuts through the tension of the moment, and Teisoko's pupils flit away from Sasuke, her mouth curling into a displeased snarl. Across the way, Naruto has knocked Jikken to the ground and now crouches on the man's chest. Fingers stained with blood, he snarls at her, his eyes like slits.

"Sorry, did I just kill your pet?" he jeers.

"No," the ancient woman replies coldly, "but I will soon kill yours."

The thick cords around Sasuke's tight constrict even more, slowly crushing his larynx and oesophagus together. His free hand claws uselessly at it, trying to get the tiniest bit of give so that he can breath—

"Don't even try it—shannaro!"

There's a sound of metal whizzing through the air, and then the restraints holding Sasuke in the air slacken. Several kunai have slashed through them at the bottom, pinning them to the ground. Sasuke falls forward, saved from hitting the ground when familiar arms catch hold of him. There's a flurry of movement, the sensation of being half-carried and half-dragged away, but he's too dizzy with oxygen deprivation to notice much.

When he comes back to himself seconds later, he and Sakura are squatted several feet away from Teisoko, Sakura's arm wrapped around him in support.

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding Kakashi?" he asks dimly.

"Forget that," she tells him, gaze fixed on the potential minefield around Teisoko. "I'm worried right now about what she meant by 'no'."

Sasuke's eyes widen incrementally and he looks over to where Naruto is staring down at Jikken's motionless body, watching in disbelief as it begins to move, jerking and twitching spasmodically. His ruined throat abruptly goes from a taping, torn flesh wound to whole in seconds.

"Sometimes I really hate being right," Sasuke murmurs to himself.

As Jikken continues to twitch, his form flickering and returning to its previous condition, Naruto jumps back a few feet, growling in frustration as he lands in a crouch.

"It's just like you said," Sakura says with tense awe. "He can come back—she will keep bringing him back. It's like they're somehow connected."

"But she hasn't used any seals or hand signs," Naruto protests.

"Maybe she did something, so she doesn't have to? Maybe there's like...a sigil or a seal somewhere on his body, so she doesn't have to concentrate on bringing him back when he dies?" Sakura suggests, thinking rapidly.

"So we destroy the sigil? How do we even find it?"

"Chakra clusters are gathered closest in the abdomen, just below the heart, so aim for that?"

"Don't waste time aiming," Sasuke snaps. "Just rip through his whole chest!"

Naruto's eye twitches, a little of his old self seeping back in place of the Nine Tails' rage. "What the hell, Sasuke! You want me to tear some guy's heart out?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"If you're too squeamish, I'll fucking do it—"

Before he can make good on the boast, the ground beneath him gives way, more cables bursting forth to wrap around him.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cries, yanking him backward and farther out of reach of the twisting, black wires. She may be stationary, but Teisoko is far from neutralised.

"You children are so simple," she sneers. "Turning your back on an opponent in my time would have meant you were slaughtered like cattle."

Sasuke's eyes narrow, likely at the insult, and he takes a step forward. He rolls his shoulder, the one beneath the curse seal, and the bottom drops out of Sakura's stomach.

"Sasuke, don't," she pleads quietly, clutching the back of his shirt. For a wonder, he doesn't immediately shake her off—perhaps because he is still panting, trying to recover himself from the near strangulation.

The ground in front of them is a veritable minefield of black wires and cables, poised to attack her and Sasuke the minute their attention wavers. Across the way, Jikken is on his feet again, laughing as Naruto circles him warily, trying to decide the next plan of attack.

The nearest cable launches forward, and Sakura and Sasuke jump back another few paces. They are almost back to back with Naruto, a triad facing dangers on all sides. Despite the dire circumstances, Sakura feels a thrill.

We're all fighting with our back together!

"If this guy keeps coming back from the dead, we're not going to last very long," Naruto bites out through gritted teeth.

"We're not going to last very long anyway," Sasuke rasps. "We can't even get close to Teisōko!"

"Just tell me where to go, and I'll make a distraction!" Sakura offers.

You could always release me, the fox within Naruto points out. This irritating thing would be an easy meal for me at my full power. Awful hard to reanimate with all your vital organs strewn across the floor.

A feeling of bloody, ravenous hunger leeches into Naruto, for a full second he actually entertains the idea. Then he shakes his head.

Even if I let you out, and you deal with him, there's still that Uchiha nutjob, he replies silently. If she doesn't know you're here, she can't get you. And I'm not the type of person sacrficie anyone—even people I don't like—just to win a fight!

The silence in his head feels almost stunned, but Naruto doesn't get a chance to re-examine it further as Jikken, whose throat is now back to its previous condition, darts forward.

"Did I not tell you?" he sneers, wild-eyed and with his teeth bared in a mad grin. "Who else but a goddess could battle against Death and so often turn it back?"

"You waste time, Jikken," Teisoko hisses. "Dispose of the brats already."

"With pleasure!"

He dives forward, reaching for Naruto's throat, but Naruto ducks down, tumbling beneath his legs, whirling around to throw a kunai at him. Jikken bats it away, but as he does that, Naruto lunges with an upper cut, trying to break his nose and drive the bone into his brain. Jikken dodges him with ease, maneuvering him to the ground and bringing his elbow downward in what for anyone not possessed by an ancient chakra beast would likely crush a few of his vertebrae.

As it is, Naruto simply tumbles to one side, rolling to his feet and panting as he once more faces his opponent.

I assume you have some kind of plan, the fox drawls.

I'm thinking! Naruto snaps, calling up another wave of shadow clones. It's a strategy that's getting old and predictable, but if he doesn't keep Jikken occupied, the man is going to go after the rest of Naruto's team. At least focussed on him, he's giving them another chance.

Sort of.

"We can't keep dodging like this," Sakura tells Sasuke, voice pitched low. They're trying to get closer to Teisoko, but more cables make themselves known underground. "Sooner or later, she's going to catch one of us in her Sharingan." Sasuke spins in midair, kicking one of the incoming cables out of the way, and lands back in a crouch beside Sakura. "We have to retreat."

"That's not an option!"

"Those wires of hers aren't organic! She's not creating them herself, which means they're only a danger at close range, and she has to have a limit to what she can manipulate here."

"You can't know that for sure."

"Yes, I can—to maintain the integrity of the barrier, I think this is an actual small pocket of time we're in the middle of. We can't see it, but if you look at the curvature of the time field, it probably passes through the ceiling and underground. A solid sphere that stops anything from moving in or out of it."

"So she can't use anything outside of that range," Sasuke realises, catching up to Sakura's analysis.

"Exactly. And she is stuck to a wall."

"But if we go far enough back, we end up in Jikken's attack range. Fighting a battle on two fronts is stupid."

"Only if you do it alone," she counters. "And he's occupied with Naruto. We can take a few seconds to come up with a long-range solution."

Sasuke looks like he wants to argue, but seems to change his mind. "Fine. But stay sharp."

Luckily, or unluckily, Jikken's focus is entirely on Naruto.

"Damn it!" Naruto snarls as he is flipped painfully onto the ground, the back of his skull cracking against hard rock. He feels like his spine has been dislocated in a few places.

So did that blow to your head knock anything loose, or do you just want to keep getting beaten up? Naruto's snide demonic passenger asks.

You're enjoying this way too much, Naruto retorts, staggering to his feet. What happened to helping?

You keep stopping me. All because you're afraid of what your friends will think. Though, that will be moot in a few minutes, as they'll be dead...

Naruto clenches his teeth, eyes flitting towards Sakura and Sasuke.

Teisōko nearly manages to snake a live wire around Sakura's arm as they retreat, but Sasuke grabs it just in time, channelling a barrier of electricity into his palm and using that to shove it away. Teisōko hisses in displeasure and renews her onslaught, the near-sentient cables driving the two of them farther and farther away. Her efforts nearly bring them into the direct path of Naruto's fight with Jikken.

"I still don't get how she's controlling all of this?" Sasuke wheezes as Sakura skids to one side and he dives to the other. He barely manages to roll to his feet in time to avoid another grasping cable.

"The wires are connected to her—the whole place is connected to her," Sakura cries as they are forced to dodge again. "Have you ever heard of a Sharingan controlling people like puppets?" In an effort to keep them safe, Sakura puts her back against Sasuke's, trying to be ready if the crazed man decides to choose a different target.

"If the genjutsu is strong enough, it's possible—but that's not what this is, or I'd be able to tell."

Sakura considers. "What if...what if she is like the CPU of a computer?"

"What?"

"The brain! Maybe it's a combination of chakra and whatever technological enhancements she's got attached to her—ouch!"

Behind them, Jikken has feinted to the left, kicking Naruto viciously out of his way, and flung a handful of shuriken at Sakura and Sasuke. One of them nicks her cheek, and another slices her leg.

"Sakura?" Sasuke demands.

"I'm fine!" she squeaks at the same time that Naruto recovers himself and jumps Jikken from behind, grabbing him around his throat and trying to throttle him. "You?"

"The cables don't reach this far," he confirms.

"I mean the shuriken..."

"What shuriken?"

Naruto goes flying over Jikken's shoulder, disappearing in a puff of smoke—of course it's a clone—and the pale man once again reaches for Sakura. Sensing her tense behind him, Sasuke orders, "Switch!" and maneuvers himself to take her place, meeting Jikken's incoming attack with a quick blast of flame.

"Hey, watch it!" the real Naruto complains, side-stepping the flame before headbutting Jikken in the spine.

"You watch it! You're not paying attention!"

Naruto growls at him, but returns his focus to his own fight.

He's right. You haven't even noticed yet, the fox says.

"Noticed what?"

The man is still as slow as he was before. He hasn't teleported once.

"That means—" Naruto says, realising that his demonic passenger is right and shouts out loud, "—he's still grounded!"

He has to duck when Jikken takes advantage of his distraction to aim a chop to his throat.

Good job, the fox growls, yell whenever you figure out something about your opponent. How the hell were you allowed to become a shinobi?

"But why is he grounded?"

It's Sakura who replies. "Teisoko's the one who resurrects him, right? What if it's a limited technique?"

Sasuke catches on. "Resetting his condition doesn't bring him back to perfect condition."

"Something must have happened before we got here to keep him from teleporting, and now...now when he reverts, he doesn't go back to the way he first was."

"A time limit on her abilities," Sasuke concludes, eyes gleaming with something like hope for the first time.

Not wanting to be left out of the group, Naruto demands, "So what you're saying is, we've got to bloody him up enough so that even when she brings him back, he won't be a threat?" He sacrifices a clone in order to jump over him and shove his elbow down hard on Jikken's shoulder. "Basically, I just keep hitting him, right?"

"And look for some sigil on him!" Sakura tells him. "Something that connects him to Teisoko. We'll look for one on her."

"Unless we drop dead from exhaustion beforehand," Sakura complains.

The slithering wires can't reach them, but Teisōko is using her ability to open time-windows again. On the one hand, they aren't easily sustained—a few seconds at most before closing—but they appear out of nowhere and with no warning. It's only because of Sasuke's reflexes that they haven't fallen in yet.

It seems like forever before –

"Kakashi!" Sakura suddenly cries.

Sasuke jerks his head to the side and sees that while he and Sakura are out of range, Teisōko has apparently found a new target: their unconscious teacher. Making a snap judgement, he puts on a burst of speed, just managing to reach Kakashi in time to yank him out of danger.

"Now would be a great time for you to wake up," Sasuke mutters, ensuring the man is still breathing and as safe as he can possibly be from the combination of time portals and grasping cables.

She's got a limited range for the cables, but how do the time portals work?

Outside of the cave they were opening up all over, at random intervals and with varying sizes. Almost like afterthoughts – but it seems to take her more concentration to open on purpose – and in places that she intends it to happen.

She probably has to control those, because if she doesn't, she'll get sucked in too. She only started using them when we got too close – so she probably won't use them again unless we get closer. Sakura was right, we just have to keep out of range of her and –

As she skirts Teisōko's attack range, another window opens up and Sakura dodges to one side – only to step wrong and haver her ankle twist. She staggers, just managing to keep herself upright, but before she can stop herself, she reflexively looks up.

All she can see is the blood red colour and her limbs begin to clench. Teisōko's pupils widen, three points bleeding outside the rim and spinning in a deadly circle.

"Sakura!" Sasuke snaps in warning, but it's as if his voice is coming from far away.

In the last second before her brain can be ensnared in the woman's genjutsu, she feels bone-deep pain in her thigh. It's enough to make her jolt, bringing enough of her resolve back to move – she barely notices the shuriken now jammed into her leg – because at that moment, the space she just occupied suddenly explodes.

The ripple sends her tumbling to the ground, ears ringing and head aching, as if she's just experienced a flash-bomb.

"Wh-what was that?" she murmurs, dizzy.

"It's her Mangekyō Sharingan," Sasuke says through gritted teeth, appearing beside her and dragging her to her feet. They skirt towards the chakra wall, within the narrow range between where Teisoko can reach them and where Naruto's altercation with Jikken is still going strong. "Somehow, she can make things explode."

"Katon?"

"No, this is different," Sasuke says, not dwelling on how useful that ability would be right now. "This wasn't remotely related to Katon or any fire jutsu I've ever seen. It's a Sharingan ability."

"Maybe she's not just able to slow down and freeze time," Sakura suggests. "Maybe she can speed it up as well. In theory, if you move molecules fast enough, they blow up."

"Which means getting closer to her just went from challenging to fucking impossible," Sasuke concludes.

There is a crackle of sound, and the air around Sasuke seems to boil, getting hotter far faster than air should be able to heat.

Before she is even aware of it, Sakura is moving, tackling Sasuke to the ground, at the exact instant that a percussive blast shatters the air. A searing arc of pain spreads across her entire right side, and she screams, losing her balance as the two of them skid and roll across the floor.

"Sakura!" Naruto yells, earning a bloody slash across his back for his trouble.

Where they landed, Sakura stares up at Sasuke, who has rolled himself on top of her; his attention is fixed on what feels like a bloody chasm in her shoulder.

"What the hell did you do?" he shouts at her, eyes snapping to her with something like horror.

"S-saved your l-life," she stammers, her body trembling from the pain. For some reason, it's important that he knows that, but she doesn't know why. She's pretty sure shock is going to set in soon. Unlike Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura isn't used to just shrugging off major wounds. And, also unlike her teammate or her future self, she doesn't possess any healing abilities.

Sasuke is quietly panicking, pressing his hands desperately against Sakura's bleeding wound, all the while glancing around for help – or to see if Teisōko is gearing up for another attack. Mitsuki's talking appears to be keeping her attention from them for the time being, and Naruto remains occupied with Jikken.

There's no one to help him.

The world seems to narrow, sense disappearing around him until the only sound he can make out is the desperate churn of his thoughts.

"Never again..."

With no healers in sight, there's no way to stop the blood and neither he nor Sakura have supplies left. He has to save her, but he has to stop Teisōko, but he has to help Naruto and there is no right choice here!

"I've already lost everything once before."

His shoulder begins to burn, the mark threatening to break through, but he knows if he allows it, he won't be able to help Sakura or Naruto. He'll go straight for the ancient Uchiha, which is the logical thing to do, and the only thing that can stop all of this. And yet –

"I don't want to watch those precious to me die before my eyes again."

None of that will mean anything if Sakura is dead at the end of it.

"Do you trust me?" he asks Sakura.

She stares up at him, eyes blurred with pained tears, and without hesitations says, "Of course."

Something in his heart stutters at the absolute certainty there, and the weight of that one word feels far older and stronger and much more terrifying than it should.

"Don't move," he tells her. "No matter what, because this is going to hurt."

Sakura's face fills with worry, but she nods resolutely.

Sasuke adjusts his position, trapping her arms to her body with his thighs to prevent her from moving, and then shifts one side. Quickly, he makes the hand signs, adjusts the force of his chakra, reducing the area of its reach but willing the flames to be hotter, before expelling a small, controlled stream of fire.

The heat and flame spread themselves across the span of Sakura's wound, and she shrieks in pain – but miraculously, doesn't even try to flail.

"What the hell, Sasuke?!" Naruto, or one of his clones, yells.

"Shut up!" Sasuke snarls back as the fire dissipates and he examines his work. The round is rough and glistening with blisters, but the cauterization has stopped any exsanguination. "Did you want her to bleed out?!"

He whips his head back to Sakura.

"Are you okay?" he barks.

Sakura nods shakily. "Y-yes."

"She could have killed you!" Sasuke growls.

"She could have k-killed you," Sakura counters stubbornly.

"She could have killed you both!" Naruto howls at them. "Stop almost dying!"

He dives after Jikken, a Rasengan forming in his hand. He shoves it into the back of the man with such force that it exits through the front of his body.

Jikken drops to the ground.

"Yes!" he yells. Teisoko's eyes burn and Jikken's form begins to heal again. "Aw, man, this is getting old really fast..."

Naruto jumps back a few feet until he is standing beside his teammates once more. "Are you guys alright? Sakura?"

"I'll be fine," she assures him.

"Go stay with Kakashi," Sasuke orders her.

"No."

"Sakura, you're wounded—"

"Who isn't right now?" she shoots back. "I don't want to be watching you and Naruto from behind again!"

"You're not," he tells her, impatient. "You're preserving your strength. If we can't take these guys down, you're our last hope."

"You mean, if you die trying to take her down," Sakura replies, eyes narrowing and mouth turning down mutinously.

Sasuke doesn't answer, instead turning to leave her behind.

Only to find himself suddenly yanked back, two fists clutching the front of his shirt, and furious green eyes glowering at him. All traces of earlier tears are gone, and what he sees now is utter rage, an emotion that has never been directed at him by her before.

The back of his neck feels very warm for some reason.

"That's it?!" she snaps. "You're just going to go off and die and leave me with all the responsibilities, aren't you?! Just like usual, you selfish jerk! Well, I can be selfish too! Shannaro!"

And then her lips against his.

He doesn't even have time to register the punishing press of them before she pulls back, blushing and glaring and says, "I love you. So don't you dare die!"

When she releases him, Sasuke staggers a bit to the left, shock temporarily leaving him unbalanced.

Of everything to happen to him today...he still didn't expect that.

Sakura, face the same colour as her tunic, hurries over to Kakashi's lifeless form.

"Did really she just...?" Naruto begins as Sasuke steps toward him.

"not talking about it," Sasuke cuts him off, voice oddly tight.

"Okay then..."

They survey the twitching curse-marked man in the distance, his mistress radiating absolutely fury as she wills him back to life.

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"We need to switch off." He stows his usual competitive nature, trying to think analytically. "It's like I said before. I need to take Jikken. I'm faster than you and can keep up—"

"No—"

"Don't be stubborn about it. You've got a much better chance of surprising Teisōko than I do, especially with your shadow clones. She'll have more trouble tracking you than me."

Naruto clenches his fists.

"In case you're too thick to figure it out, I'm saying you're strong enough, alright?" Sasuke continues, sounding impatient. "Now let's do this."

"I can't," Naruto mutters quietly.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I can't!" Naruto snaps, and then in a voice pitched only for Sasuke to hear. "She has an evolved Sharingan."

"So? Just avoid her gaze. It's not completely impossible."

"I can't take the chance—"

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because I've got the Nine-Tailed Fox in me!" Naruto hisses, eyes flitting nervously around in case Sakura might hear him. "And it told me it can be controlled by a Sharingan like that. And I really don't want to turn into an animal that rips apart all my friends, okay? I can't risk her gaining control of the demon."

Beside him, Sasuke goes suddenly and terribly quiet.

Damn it, Naruto thinks. Because he's held back from saying anything for so long, all because he's feared the reaction and now, at the worse opportunity, he's said it out loud.

You pathetic idiot, the fox growls at him.

"Well, say something," Naruto snaps, voice taut with anxiety. But Sasuke is silent, shoulders hunching forward, and his hair falling in a curtain over his eyes. "Sasuke?"

The other boy's shoulders begin to shake.

Don't tell me he's afraid – !

"Damn it, Sasuke! Say something!"

An unfamiliar, utterly startling sound fills the cavern. It starts low and quiet, before getting steadily louder.

Naruto's eyes widen, because the sound is familiar in a general sense, but not something he has ever witnessed before –

"Are you...are you fucking laughing right now?!"

And low and behold, Sasuke straightens up, his eyes glittering with mirth of all things.

"Of course you are," Sasuke continues to snigger, in that utterly unsettling way of his. "Because why not?"

"Now is so not the time for you to discover a sense of humour, asshole! Or have a psychotic break, which is what this looks like..."

"Don't you get it?" Sasuke counters, still grinning maniacally. "The absolutely, unbelievable ridiculousness of today? The total and complete improbability, and in all that—what you just said makes the most sense out of all of it?"

Naruto blinks. "I don't follow..."

"Well, you wouldn't, would you?" Sasuke retorts, sounding triumphant. "Never mind, dead-last."

He turns once more to face Jikken's slowly recovering form. Beyond it, and the wall of chakra, he sees his future self, and for the first time all day, the reality of who he will be hits him. Realisation and an odd sense of calm overtake his slightly hysterical mood, tempering even the stabbing prods from his curse mark.

Because he feels an utter certainty, a strange fulfilment that shouldn't make sense but does. In this moment, Sasuke—past and present—has achieved everything he has wanted. He has figured out why Naruto is so weird and keeps getting stronger so fast—it's not Sasuke's own personal failing, but a quirk of fate particular to the other boy.

Sasuke has confirmed that he is destined to get the revenge that he yearns for, and that he will restore his clan. His eyes return to his future self, still frozen in chakra, and he smirks, because he it appears going to be fighting beside the idiot that has become his best friend twenty years from now.

And the girl that he is going to marry—the only person he has ever entertained a slight possibility of caring about—kissed him.

"If we lose this fight, nothing matters—but if we win, that's everything. So all I have to say to you, Naruto—" The sound of birds scream to the forefront, echoing within the chamber as he wills a chidori into his hand, "—is don't slow me down, loser."

And once again he takes a run at Jikken.

Naruto gapes at his back and then shouts gleefully, "You bastard! I'm going to kick your ass for that when we're done!"

つづく

_____

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