Warning: Multiple Mentions of Implied Rape, much like what occurred in the chapter Fire. But worse.

::

"Not so high and mighty now, are you?" Obito sneered, fingers digging into Sakura's bleeding, skinless neck. Even with pain filling her from her head to her toes, she looked up at him with teary eyes and mustered up the strength to spit in his face.

"Fuck... you..."

He laughed.

"Haven't you already?"

And the black fire swirled around them, with blistering heat seeping into the hatred that emanated between them. She could see the darkness growing in her peripheral vision, slowly crawling from tree to tree and darkening--

Sakura woke up.

Her room was dark, illuminated only by the moonlight that poured in through her window. Her clothes, a simple ensemble of a loose tank top and spandex shorts, were completely soaked through with her sweat. Red lines were littered all over her neck as a result of the unconscious and relentless scratching she had done in her sleep.

It was two in the morning and she knew that she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep. Sakura held a glowing green hand to her torn skin as she slid off the bed and went to let fresh air into her room. She then plopped down on the window seat and leaned against the wall, using her free hand to rub at the dark bags under her eyes.

Sometimes she wondered why she was one of the two sent back in time. Why her? Why the one who couldn't make a change to anything in the first timeline? If anything, Naruto should've been the one given the opportunity to fix the world. He was the chosen one. Always had been, always will be.

Even Sasuke would've been hell of a better choice than her. And he tried to kill her once.

She heaved a heavy sigh and sunk further against the wall. She was eight years old now, but it felt like she was in her 20's again—that jaded individual that had nothing else to lose.

She honestly hoped that Sasori was having a much better time on his end.

"Sakura-san."

Turning her head, she saw Yori on the pillow beside her. A rolled note lay in the pincer he offered up to her.

"Thank you. All good news from him, I hope," she said. Yori moved itself at an angle, looking suspiciously doubting for an arachnid.

"I wouldn't necessarily call it... good," he murmured. Sakura repressed the urge to groan as she reluctantly opened it.

Apparently, the Godaime Kazekage ran away.

She blinked.

::

Sasori didn't know how to take this situation. He and Orochimaru had taken a quick mission on Wind Country's border where they'd caught wind of a small panic within the Sunagakure area. Gaara would normally have moments where he'd disappear for a few days at a time, reappearing when his caretakers would look for him under the order of his father. But two weeks had passed since last anyone had seen him.

It was an ANBU who made the report this time, and all elite were supposed to be on the lookout for the eight year old boy.

"That's unfortunate," Orochimaru hummed from his seat in the late-night cafe. Sasori was across from him, a calculating look in his eyes. "We should keep a look out for the boy. He holds the Ichibi inside him, no?"

The shorter man said nothing, merely glancing at their surroundings. The sannin sighed and leaned back against his chair. Three years had passed since Sasori suddenly lost his sanity. No one knew what it was because he was perfectly competent in fighting and completing his missions, but sometimes he had to wonder what the hell was going through his head.

"Are you listening to me?"

Sasori pointed to the walls. "I appreciate this coral color, but I think a mantis green would look better with the cafe layout," he commented as he tilted his head.

Orochimaru hung his head. "I worry about you sometimes. Honestly."

As he let the matter go and continued to eat his dish, Sasori drew himself back to what he was really thinking about. The last time he paid him a visit was about two months ago. Nothing seemed wrong with him. Well, nothing more than from what regularly troubled him.

He stood. "Our mission's in a few days, right? Don't expect to see me until then."

Sasori grabbed his straw hat and cloak before leaving the establishment. He wanted to find Gaara as quickly as possible to ensure his safety and make sure that no one could capture him for their own destructive purposes. Not that they really could, considering Shukaku wouldn't let a damn thing happen to his host.

He took to the tree tops and began his search towards Sunagakure. He couldn't have gotten far at any circumstance. Gaara was a small, completely inexperienced individual who more than likely had a limited knowledge on chakra and didn't know how to mold it correctly.

He frowned as he pulled out a small tag, slicing the skin of his thumb and rubbing it on the seal as he ran. There was a small puff of air before a sleek brown cat appeared in midair. It hissed as it narrowly avoided smashing into a tree.

"What is this?!" Kou exclaimed, appalled at what almost happened to him, "If you need to summon me, you could've been the least bit considerate and stopped, Sasori-kun! I just had my luxurious fur cleaned and brushed, nya!"

"Sorry. I need you to do something for me, please."

The cat kept up pace with his summoner, tail fluffed up and head held high. "Fine, but there better be some hamachi in my near future," he sniffed. Sasori waved a hand and kept moving from tree to tree.

"I need you to look for a red haired boy—eight years old, black rings around his eyes, and tailed beast chakra inside him. Don't approach him, just inform me of his whereabouts," he said. Kou nodded and disappeared to fulfill his duty.

Gaara. Still, he hadn't reached back out to Yashamaru and still hadn't built a connection with his father. He was starting to worry about the deeper emotional bonds the boy wasn't making. He knew that he had two older siblings, Temari and Kankuro, but Gaara never mentioned their names whenever they met up with each other. He felt that he was being too relied upon and that he would be the only receiving end of Gaara's emotion relief. It wasn't exactly a bad thing, it was just that it wasn't safe for the boy's general well-being.

Sasori jumped down onto the ground when the forests ended, meeting the endless hills of sand. A warm breeze blew through his cloak as his eyes grazed over the darkened horizon. It still had to be early morning. Four o'clock, maybe.

He really hoped Gaara was safe.

"Sasori-kun~!"

He turned around, seeing Kou on a tree branch.

"You're going the wrong way! The child made it outside the border and isn't looking too well."

Brown eyes narrowed. "Show me."

Forty minutes passed when he was led to the base of a cliff edge. The smell of blood immediately invaded his nose, making even him cringe at the intensity. Dead hunter-nins turned the ground red as Gaara curled in on himself, shaking and head buried in his knees. Like the time he first saw him.

"Gaara?" he called out softly. The shaking stopped, "Gaara, are you alright?"

The boy's head slowly raised. Sea foam green eyes turned into slits. "You."

An enormous arm of sand shot in his direction. Sasori narrowly avoided the attack and watched as it burst through a line of trees.

"You lied to me!"

The arm swept sideways in an attempt to collide with the Akatsuki member.

"You're not Hiruko, you're Sasori! You're a criminal! You left Suna years ago! Why did you come back and talk to me?! Why?!"

Another sand arm came at him. Sasori silently cursed himself as he dodged the appendages relentlessly trying to kill him. Puppets would be useless against the opponent, and he was at a loss of what to do. Fuck, he never should have lied like that. It was even against his own previous beliefs.

"You want to kill me, don't you? You want to kill me just like Yashamaru did!"

The arms grew out into spikes and tried to puncture through the older man. Sasori jumped onto the sand creation and ran up the length, using a kunai to deflect the sharp pinpoint attacks.

"You kept telling me to forgive them! You said you believed in me! Why?! Why you?! You-- You and Yashamaru are the same!"

Claws emerged from the sand extensions and swiped at him. It missed, just barely, and smacked into the cliff side.

"You're all LIARS!" Gaara roared. When Sasori narrowly escaped being thrown into the rock formation, he caught a glimpse of the boy's eyes. They were angry and terribly betrayed, hitting him harder than any attack could. It distracted him enough to get hit by the second sand arm as it rained from above and slammed him onto the ground. Red liquid erupted from his mouth as the sand clung to him, growing tighter and tighter to cut off his oxygen supply.

"G-Gaara..." he gasped. His gaze strained to angle at the boy's location. The cliff the eight year old pushed himself up to began to crumble from the previous impact it suffered. The top of it cracked bit by bit until the very tip began to slide off.

"Shit!"

He tried to pull himself free of his hardened confines. Gaara looked up, complete and utter terror crossing his features. The fear must've made his Shukaku-laden attacks weaken because Sasori was able to rip himself free and run to grab the Kazekage's son-- taking the boy into his arms before he could be crushed to death. His back cracked against the back of a tree, him holding the small body against his chest.

Sasori slid down onto the grass with more blood dribbling down his chin. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Gaara said nothing, though his arms slowly reached up and wrapped around the man's neck. He then dug his face into his collarbone. Sasori threaded his fingers through Gaara's hair, murmuring soothingly to calm him down. "I'll get you back home, okay?"

The muted echo of sobs filled the forest, the sun rising steadily in the distance.

::

"Isn't this fun?"

"Stop... ghk... talking... monST—"

A hand pressed onto Sakura's mouth to stop her screams.

Sakura sat in front of the door, pulling on her sandals and checking to see if her bandages were wrapped correctly. Kizashi came around the corner with a huge grin on his face.

"Off to another day at the Academy, eh?"

She stood up and hoisted her shoulder bag on her shoulder, then smiled up at her ever-cheerful father. He always managed to be happy regardless of the circumstance and was always able to light up the room when people were down. "Yeah. Then I'm going to my friend Kiba's for the study group after school," she replied. Mebuki came around the corner next with a demeanor equally as bright as her husband's.

"Then you're heading to your other friend... Hinata-chan's house for a sleepover?" she questioned. The two didn't notice the odd gleam in their daughter's eyes before she nodded.

"Mm. I'll be back tomorrow morning, I promise."

Her father reached over and tousled her hair. "Have fun, kiddo," he bid. Sakura adjusted the strap on her shoulder as she opened the front door. She was thankful her parents were rather ignorant on shinobi affairs, seeing that Hiashi would never let an outsider stay over at the Hyuuga Estate.

"Oh, and Sakura!"

She looked over her shoulder.

"We love you, sweetheart," Mebuki smiled. Sakura couldn't keep the warmth out of her chest as a grin of her own involuntarily made its way onto her face.

"I love you too."

She stepped out the door and closed it behind her. As she walked down the hall, she waved at Akiyama-san then walked down the stairs of the complex. She saw both Naruto and Sasuke waiting for her once she was out of the building.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. "It was my idea to pick you up, dattebayo!"

Sasuke glared at him. "No it wasn't, dobe!" he protested. Naruto's smile fell off his face as he whipped towards the other boy.

"Call me dobe ONE more time—!"

Sakura sighed. In a content sort of way.

Maybe today wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

::

"Morino-san, I'm sorry—"

"He was a good kid."

"I can't believe he would've—"

"He didn't deserve—"

"What happened to Idate wasn't your fault."

Ibiki had just returned from a mission regarding the theft of a classified scroll and a legendary lightning chakra sword at the hands of his younger brother. That boy, who failed his chuunin exams and went against it, had been the one to go against his own village. Ibiki immediately knew that something was wrong and went to seek out the truth for himself.

It wasn't long until he found out everything was orchestrated by former Konoha shinobi Rokusho Aoi.

But even when he went after his brother and sought to bring him home, one thing led to another and he arrived at Konoha's gates alone and empty handed. His teammates were dead and so was his brother.

He failed. Horribly, miserably, unforgivably.

Ibiki toyed with a pen on his desk, staring blankly at the empty paper in front of him. He was fresh out of the hospital and covered from head to toe in bandages, mostly obscured by his baggy clothing. He didn't look any different or out of the ordinary, save for a new face scar, and he really had to chalk it up to his hard-earned skills in interrogation.

"Morning, Morino-san." Genma entered the office with his typical senbon stuck out of his mouth. He raised a hand in a lazy greeting and took a seat on the couch. "Sorry about Idate."

Ibiki should his head as he opened his drawer, sifting around and avoiding making eye contact. "He wasn't cut out to be a shinobi anyways."

The tokubetsu jounin said nothing in return, understanding completely. Ibiki took out a notepad and Sakura's decently thick file. He flipped it open to the first page—a short biography and outdated description.

"Did you talk to Sakura about her new practice?" he questioned. "I need to get her scheduled for both a physical and psychological examination. The year we agreed to wait on passed a week ago."

Genma paused as he scratched the back of his head. "Already? Damn..." He sighed, flopping backwards in exasperation at the stare in his direction. "Fine! I'll ask her tomorrow."

"Hm."

They lapsed into a wave of silence, Genma with his eyes closed to catch up on some sleep and Ibiki with his thoughts he would never admit as guilt.

::

Her throat burned. Not just from the skin that was ripped off, but also from the exhaustion of her incessant snarls and enraged resistance. Obito still had her pinned to her ground, unconcerned with the scratch marks on his cheeks and forearms.

"Pathetic."

"Shut the fuck up."

She wheezed when he increased pressure on her chest. Her vision went blurry for a split second before refocusing on his cruel crimson eyes. She could see the reflection of fire in his irises as they lit up in glee.

"Now, now, Sakura-chan. No need to be so rude. We've already... connected, haven't we?"

He leaned forward so that the tip of their noses were nearly touching.

"Or should I enlighten you again?"

"Sakura-chan!"

She turned to Naruto. He gripped the straps of his green backpack in the group of eight babbling Academy on their way to the Inuzuka House. Kiba was talking to Hinata and letting her hold Akamaru in her arms. Chouji and Shino were enjoying the comforting silence they shared between each other. Sasuke and Shikamaru, surprisingly, were in the midst of a heated argument about if tomatoes were fruits or vegetables.

"What's up?"

"You're goin' to the sky again," he said. He always told her that when she was off in her own world. Sakura smiled and slung an arm over his shoulders, bringing him into a side hug.

"Sorry, sorry."

Naruto frowned. "You've been doin' that a lot... Are you okay?"

She smiled a little wider and pinched his cheeks until he started to whine. He missed the pain that flashed in her face—that fraction of a second where she looked like she was back in the middle of a broken clearing bordered by Amaterasu.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?"

The group arrived at Kiba's place not too long later. There were four large dogs lazing around the front of the house. They got to their feet at the sight of the bunch of kids led towards the house by Kiba. They circled around the newcomers, poking at them and sizing them up. One of the dogs stood taller than the others with a black patch over its right eye. Kiba turned around to face his now huddled friends.

"The older dog's my kaa-san's partner. He's Kuromaru," he introduced. Kuromaru's bright yellow eye looked at each child individually, lingering on Sakura the longest. "The other three are the Haimaru Brothers: Masaru, Masashi, and Masato. They work with my aneki."

"Are... Are they all this b-big?" Chouji squeaked as Masato leaned in real close to his face. The boy clung onto Shikamaru's shoulder in slight fear.

"Not all of them, but a lot," Kiba replied. Before he turned the doorknob so he could let them into his house, he spun around. "I'm just gonna warn you guys 'bout my kaa-san. She's really tough and all, but she can get a little scary sometimes," he said. Sasuke tilted his head.

"How scary?"

"So scary that tou-san ran away."

Kiba pushed open the door. There were a few smaller dogs in the hallway and an older woman carrying a pug. Inuzuka Tsume, Sakura recalled. Her short brown hair was spiked and wilder than her son's would ever grow to be. The clan's fang markings ran down her cheeks, accentuating her piercing narrow eyes. She grinned at the sight of them.

"Finally doin' some studyin', eh? A miracle." She set the pug down and set her hands on her hips. "And take a look at that bunch with ya! Some strappin' shinobi and kunoichi you'll all turn out to be, I bet."

Tsume's voice easily carried through the house. She sounded strong and confident and definitely not fooled very easily. Kiba turned red at his mother's declaration as he ushered the other seven to the other end of the house.

"We're studyin' in the backyard!"

Sakura was at the rear of the group, allowing Tsume to stop her without really catching the others' attention. The girl looked upward to see that still-feisty grin on the woman's face, but noticed the serious tone that hid behind it.

"You've got a pretty strong cat scent on you." You smell like cat summons.

Sakura shrugged. "Konoha has a lot of strays." I know.

"What about stray dogs? Still friendly with them?" Will you be a problem in the future?

"Of course." I won't.

Tsume crossed her arms over her chest and peered down at the girl. Sakura stared back, completely unaffected by the fierce stare. "What's your name, kid?"

"Haruno Sakura," she introduced. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

::

Gaara hadn't said a single word since Sasori held him close and told him that he was sorry for what he'd done. He began telling the boy stories about his youth and the reasons why he left his village. He was positive that the words were being heard and that he was slowly beginning to refill that feeling of trust. Sasori wrapped him in the remains of his cloak, Akatsuki clouds shielded from view, and held him in his arms the entire journey.

It was nearly dark at this point. About half the day spent on the road with only each other as company. They'd make it back to Sunagakure by nightfall, he deduced. Just a couple more hours until Gaara would be safe and sound.

"Are you hungry?" Sasori questioned, "It'll still be a while until I get you back. We could even go get your favorite. Salted beef tongue, right?"

He felt a minuscule nod against his shoulder. Sasori patted Gaara's back as he changed his route to the nearest restaurant he could stop at. The bundle shifted for a moment before a pair of misty eyes poked out from the mess of dark red hair. They were obviously puffy even though they were naturally rimmed with black.

"Sa... Sasori?"

Sasori paused and used his hand to brush the kid's bangs away from his face. "Hm?"

"... Don't lie anymore, okay?"

The Akatsuki member hugged him, eyes shadowing over in guilt. "Okay."

::

"Maybe I should've put you through Tsukuyomi. But then again, I don't think I'd be having as much fun as I am now. Why just hurt someone mentally when you can do it physically as well?" Obito grinned. He waited for that haughty retort-- that wrathful counter that kept him going to inflict more and more pain on her. But there was nothing. He looked into her eyes and saw that they were blank.

Dead.

And it made him want to laugh.

"So you give up here? Twelve hours into our quaint get together?"

Dulled green eyes flickered to his. "Why don't you just kill me already, Uchiha? You've won. You've had your fill."

He raised an eyebrow. "Had my fill?" he repeated, flashing pearly white teeth. "No, no. I don't think you understand."

"We defeated evil, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. He stood and shot his hands towards the sky, then glaring triumphantly at the five homemade worksheets they'd all just completed. They were all sprawled on the grass surrounded by enormous numbers of Inuzuka dogs. The sunlight was orange and the clouds were pink, telling them all that it was about time to get home.

"We were distracted for an hour," Shino commented. Naruto stuck his tongue out.

"We still did it, so it's fine!"

Sasuke was busy organizing his notebooks and papers in his book bag, pouting the whole while and mumbling to himself. "I can't believe tomato's a fruit..."

Kiba nearly threw his binder at him as Shikamaru hung his head and sighed.

"Freakin' shut up already!"

Chouji stood and dusted the grass off his pants. Then, he helped Hinata to her feet and gave her a wide smile. "You're really good at those math problems. I didn't know you could use a shortcut like that," he said. Hinata lit up immensely.

"I-I liked how you did t-the science o-ones!"

Sakura unearthed herself from the heap of dogs that vowed to 'remove the cat stink', as Kiba translated, and had piled on her the entire study session. She stared at all the fur that stuck to her clothes, making an irked note that she seriously had to wash them when she got home tomorrow. The eight of them went through all the pleasantries of thanking Tsume for letting them come over and telling Kiba they'd see him at school on Monday. The group slowly broke up to go their own ways, though none of them noticed how Sakura went a completely different route than usual.

There was only one reason why she lied to her parents about staying at the Hyuuga Estate. This day would mark one of the most important days she had to keep an extraordinarily close eye on to make sure nothing could go wrong or that she could stop the proceedings in time, if they ever happened.

Because this was the night of the Uchiha Massacre, or it was supposed to be. She vowed to herself that she would stand guard the entire night to early morning.

Sakura perched herself on a well-leafed tree half a mile away from the compound and settled on a branch, opening a book on her lap to pass the time.

She was going to be here a while.

::

Sunagakure was just in the distance, Sasori noted with heavy-hearted relief. Gaara had fallen asleep some time ago and he was in the middle of devising a plan on how to return him safely without being caught by the guard. It was nighttime, making guard more high alert than usual. He took a few more steps towards his destination before he stopped.

"Turn around," a voice ordered. "Now."

Sasori complied.

But his blood froze at the sight of the only person in the village to have called him 'friend'. Komushi, the person he remembered poisoning in the other timeline, stood a few meters away armed with a tanto and an unrolled puppet scroll.

"Komushi," he breathed.

"Sasori," the other returned, swallowing down his nostalgia. "Put Gaara-sama down immediately and step away, or I'll be forced to apprehend you."

Sasori's eyes went to stare at the shinobi's right forearm. He remembered making that arm all those years ago in that dark workroom. Why he was alive, he didn't know, but he was glad Komushi was given the life he always deserved.

"Do you still have the arm I made for you?"

The Suna shinobi faltered, then quickly regained his composure. "Sasori, you can't just—"

"Do you?"

Komushi gritted his teeth and exhaled to the side. If this was a diversion it was working well, but he didn't know why the attacks hadn't started yet. "Yeah," he replied, "... I do."

He didn't know what to do when the kindest smile stretched over Sasori's face. In all the years he'd known the man, there wasn't a shred of happiness in him. Not since his parents died. Then up to the point of his defection, he was holed away—alone. Komushi took a step backwards when Sasori began to walk up to him.

"Here."

Sasori carefully handed the boy off, who shifted and blearily cracked open his eyes. Komushi was absolutely stunned to silence when Gaara grabbed the Akatsuki's hand, bottom lip quivering and tears threatening to fall down his cheeks.

"You're gonna go already?" he whimpered. Sasori gently patted his head.

"You know I have to."

He raised his stare to the shell-shocked Kugutsu Butai leader. He moved his hand to pat Komushi's head as well, grinning when absolute fear crossed his old friend's face.

"Take good care of that arm of yours. Maintenance is key."

He was about to shunshin away when his upper arm was caught in a death grip. Komushi stared him down with his bold black eyes, disbelieving and trying to comprehend what was happening before him.

"You..."

Sasori raised an eyebrow.

"You can't be him. Sasori doesn't smile, he doesn't take care of kids or help them get back when they're lost! He doesn't do things for others just for the fun of it, he—You're not him, are you? Tell me you're not."

Sasori clapped his old friend's white knuckled hand. "Think what you want," he said. In the snap of one's fingers, all that was left of him was a wisp of white smoke. Gaara's attention switched to Komushi and looked at him with pleading eyes. He gripped at the cloak still wrapped around his body.

"Don't tell," he begged. "Don't tell that it was him! He-He found me and saved me and is a really, really good person, okay? Don't tell, Komushi. Please."

"I..." Komushi looked around him. Nothing but sand and Sunagakure half an hour away. He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "Let's get you home, Gaara-sama. Rasa-sama must be worried."

::

"Breaking people is my hobby, Sakura-chan. I don't just 'have my fill'."

She guessed it was around early morning. Nothing happened near the compound save for the few individuals sneaking out, or going to/returning from missions. Sasuke was safe, Itachi wasn't even in the village, and everything that shouldn't happen, didn't.

"There's a reason why it's this place."

Sakura shut her book and stuffed it into her bag. It was safe to say that this crisis was one of the things the timeline was kind enough to change. Making sure her chakra was still concealed, she leapt down from the tree and stretched her arms over her head.

"There's a reason why there's this fire."

The view of the sky was obscured as she stayed at her post, so it was a relief for her to meet the starless night. As she turned around to head back towards Konoha, she could make out smoke billowing up from somewhere in the village.

More specifically, the civilian districts.

"And there's definitely a reason why it's you."

She ran.

"Ripping walls apart is hard nowadays, making the prize sweeter than you could ever imagine. I was at a loss at what I should've gone to do during the war. Make some chaos, yes. Murder whoever crosses my path, it's only half as fun as you'd think. But when you take an individual, especially one of the driving forces of the opposing cause... Then you get something interesting."

This never happened in the other time. There was never a report of a large fire or—or anything major happening to the civilians until the war. Sakura forced chakra into her legs to speed up. What was going on? Why was there a fire of all things?

"I'll make sure to drive you insane."

When a building burns, it has such a distinct smell to it. Whether it be wood or plastic, everything comes to meld together into something unbearable. Sakura stood in front of the complex she called her safe haven-- its raging flames reflecting off glassy eyes.

"It won't matter if I lose the war, nor when the Allies execute me."

Water-natured shinobi were making quick work of containing the destruction and pulling out the bodies they could recover. They were lined up to the side with a medic assessing each one, covering ones he was positive in there being nothing to be done.

"In the future, you'll be desperate for freedom from your memories. From your failures. From me."

Sakura willed herself to move towards the bodies.

"I won't kill you now."

The medic noticed her arrival but kept on working. He suddenly looked nervous as he covered the person he finished evaluating. "Where are your parents?" He didn't look into her eyes.

"Can I check the bodies and see?"

He turned away and nodded. She walked to the beginning of the line of bodies and brought each sheet down enough to see their faces. First one, the construction worker on the third floor. Second, the little boy on the fourth floor. Third, his older sister. Fourth, the vase maker.

"Because I know for a fact that in the midst of smiles and celebration..."

Fifth, the little girl who'd show her a new type of butterfly she found on one of her flowers. Sixth, the kind old man with the blue cane. Seventh, Akiyama-san.

"... with Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, or whoever else that hasn't already died..."

Eighth, the boy who liked making mud pies. Ninth, the shy librarian who had a hobby of collecting marbles. Tenth, the girl who quit school to take care of her cousin.

Obito gently stroked her face—mockingly, with a pityingly disgusting smile on his face.

Eleventh. And Twelfth. Sakura slowly brought the sheets down heart dropping at the sight of both her parents. Kizashi and Mebuki looked as if they were asleep, just asleep, and that they would wake up at any moment. But they were just as pale as the cloth that covered them.

She fell to her knees, holding her stomach and her heart: feeling the dull throb of pain from just before her death at the end of the war.

"... I'll be able to see your pretty face again when you do the honors yourself."

::

Haimaru Brothers: These are Hana's dogs, but were never formally named. First appearance: Naruto Episode #79

Rokusho Aoi: Ex-Konoha shinobi. First appearance: Naruto Episode #102

Morino Idate: Ibiki's actual younger brother. First appearance: Naruto Episode #102

Komushi: Sasori's only mentioned associate. First (and only?) appearance: Naruto Shippuuden Episode #319

::

EDITED 1/31/18