DISCLAIMER: STILL DON'T OWN NARUTO, BUT I DO OWN THIS BEAUTIFUL STORY OF MINE!!!

Sakura Gif

Pacify Her by Melanie Martinez

Chapter 28: Her Confession
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Third POV
Back in the room with the Kages, the people residing still stand with shock. They all take in the new information that Madara have them, the Fourth Shinobi War.

Declaring such a thing is ludicrous, outlandish, and not to mention, impossible. But if there's someone who would say that and actually mean it, it's the very own Madara Uchiha.

It's no bluff.

He had declared the start of the Fourth War.

"This is how your selection, Danzo, behaves? The question of who will lead the Shinobi Alliance is still up in the air! Are they any who are qualified among the current Kages? You were the one who was talking trash about us Kage, Mifune," Onoki speculates.

The other Kage stand in silence, shocked that the Tsuchikage had the nerve. But they were also waiting for what the older samurai would say. Who he would pick.

Mifune sighs heavily. "I think having Raikage-sama take up responsibility is the best option," he informs the room of people.

Onoki glares. "Didn't you say that he was unqualified because of his emotional nature and reliance on strength," he questions hotly.

"There's no question when we consider that the Eight Tails is still alive. Raikage-sama is also more composed than he was earlier. What I said earlier was hasty, please forgive me. Also as you all cooperated earlier, our counter attack was swift. Furthermore, the Hachibi, which will be the key to success, can only be controlled by Raikage," Mifune explains.

"Mizukage, Kazekage, are you alright with that," Onoki asks the other duo.

"This is no time to be arguing here, I'll trust the Raikage," Mei says confidently.

"Let's entrust it to the Raikage," Gaara says as he approves.

"'Onoki of the Scales' as the only one who fought with Madara, your information is indispensable. Cooperate with us," A states towards the Tsuchikage.

"You're talking down at me like you're giving orders, same as ever," Onoki retorts.

"You don't have to believe in me, but at this rate, the Shinobi world as we know it will end. We've got no chance, but to put aside our self interests and cooperate," the Raikage informs.

Onoki sighs. "It's better than losing the war, I suppose. Plus, if the Shinobi world were to end, where will I fight you. I'll cooperate," he gives in, finally agreeing on their terms.

Everyone in the room sighs with relief as a smile graces their faces. Not just because the little spat between the two Kage ended, but because they finally agreed to become comrades. This where the saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' comes to play.

"The Shinobi Alliance is hereby formed! We've gotta tell those Daimyó fellas first though," Onoki exclaims with a determined smile.

×××

Naruto, who was also previously 'talking' to Madara, listened as the latter informed him of Sasuke's and Itachi's lives, along with Tsuki's. How Sasuke succumbed to the clutches of revenge. How Sasuke and Naruto are destined to fight, like the founders of Konoha, like Ashura and Indra. How Tsuki was pushed away from the start. How she was the victim of the elders' schemes. How they planned her life to become such a great mess.

With a solemn look on his face, Naruto sits on the roof of the inn as snow rains down on him. With his eyes closed, Naruto focuses on his Sage mode as he trains to expand its range. But obviously, he's using it so he can find his teammates.

"Naruto, come back inside already," Yamato says from behind him, also standing on the roof.

But before anything else can happen, both Kakashi and Naruto get alerted of several new presences.

"There you are, finally," Kiba yells from below, sitting on Akamaru.

"Sakura-chan! Sai! Kiba! Bushy brow," Naruto acknowledges the arrival of his friends.

"Why are all of you here," Kakashi states.

"Naruto, there's something we have to talk about," Sakura informs.

Naruto, who knows nothing of what she's talking about has a look of pure confusion on his tanned face.

×××

The scent of flowers lingers in the air as a gentle breeze blows by. In silence, a pair of fuchsia eyes look into a pair of completely black eyes, confusion swimming in the former. Tsuki's lips part as she's rendered speechless.

"U-uh, h-half your power," she asks the Goddess.

"Yes," Cerridwen sighs.

"B-but h-how?"

The Goddess pinches her nose. "You released the second seal. Tsuki, there's four total seals and you already opened two of them. There's the Quarter Moon, the Half Moon, the Full Moon, and last, but not least, my full power," she explains.

"Full power," Tsuki marvels.

"Yes, it's very similar to the Jinchuriki's Bijuu mode. But since I'm not a part of the Juubi's chakra, you won't turn into a beast, you'll only enter a new mode of power. You'll be able to do everything I do, a Goddess mode," Cerridwen informs the girl.

"W-whoa," Tsuki's eyes sparkle with admiration as she imagines it.

"But of course you have to train and unlock all the seals to get to that point," the Goddess smirks.

At the mention of more training makes Tsuki slump to a deflated state. She crosses her arms and pours dejectedly. Itachi smirks at the younger girl, amused from her antics.

But before Tsuki can say anything else, the Goddess and the Uchiha watch in surprise as her body suddenly disappears from this world. Probably back to where she came from, leaving nothing behind except for her natural floral scent.

At her sudden absence, the once smirk that was on Itachi's lips turns to a small frown. At this, Cerridwen smirks in amusement.

Tsuki, who's back in Madara's dimension, gasps while opening her eyes in alert. Looking around the cubed area, her fuschia gaze lands on Karin who's still healing Sasuke. Sighing, she gets up from her sitting position and walks towards the Uzumaki.

"Karin, do you need help," she geniously asks.

Karin, who never heard Tsuki speak in soft tone towards her, turns her head in shock. "U-uh, no. I-I'm alright. It's not the wounds I'm worried about, it's the level of his chakra. He depleted his chakra, so I'm giving him mine, since I have the most out of us three," she explains, using one hand to fidget her glasses.

"Of course. You're an Uzumaki, a sensor, and a healer, your chakra reserves are larger than most Shinobi due to your lineage and skills. Karin, you're usually underestimated and people take you for granted because of how you act, but you actually remind me of someone dear to me. And for that, I tolerate you and actually acknowledge you," Tsuki states, ending with a sincere smile.

To Tsuki, Karin actually reminds her of Sakura. They're both usually underestimated, they both have excellent skills in medical ninjutsu, and of course they both have feelings for the young Uchiha. She also has a hot temper like her twin, and being in her presence is bittersweet. Too similar.

"Tsu-"

"Anyways, you should probably hurry with healing Sasuke, Madara could return at any moment," Tsuki cuts her off, not wanting a heartwarming situation to happen.

Sakura, I wonder what you're doing now, Tsuki questions, looking off into the distance.

×××

"Ehh," Naruto and almost everyone exclaims ludicrously.

"What...did..you say just now...Sakura-chan? I..don't know if...I heard you wrong. Can..you say it again," Naruto questions, slowly, trying to figure out what just happened.

Lee is standing next to an annoyed Kiba, still gaping at the whole scenario. Yamato's doing the same as Kakashi stands next to him, stoic as usual.

"W-what I said, Naruto...is that I love you," Sakura stutters, blushing furiously. "I'm saying that there's nothing between Sasuke and I amymore! I don't know what I was thinking, liking a person like that. I'm confessing my feelings here, so listen up!"

Naruto, stands still at her exclaimation, eyes wide with shock, mouth parted because he's so speechless. But that slowly changes as his shocked face soon turns to one of disbelief. Here's the girl he always has feelings for, confessing that she too has these feelings, but it feels wrong. To have an abrupt change of heart. It feels fake. It feels too easy, Naruto knows that Sakura always had, no, has feelings for Sasuke and there's nothing in the world that can change that.

"But, how!? Why," he exclaims, questioning the girl in front of him. "If you tell a joke like that in a situation like this, it ain't funny! Sakura-chan, what..just happened?"

"Nothing really, I just suddenly realized. There's no sense in continuing to like someone who's a fugitive and a criminal. I can't stay a kid forever...I want to face reality. So Naruto, there's no need to keep that promise. Won't you stop chasing Sasuke," she explains, adding a fake smile to throw him off.

Naruto just looks at her, trying to find answers to why this is happening.

"What the hell are you-" Yamato exclaims, only to be cut off by Kakashi, who lifts a hand to stop him.

"Did something happen, Sakura-chan? Why me of all people," Naruto continues to interrogate.

"Nothing happened! If you want to know why I started liking you, I'll say it clearly," Sakura angrily yells, fed up with all the questions he's throwing at her.

Sai, just looks at her, silent, as he observes everything. Because he, too, knows that there's something off about this 'declaration of love'. Naruto narrows his eyes at the girl as he remembers back to the days where the team was whole.

Back to when he transformed to Sasuke on the day they got their teams. "I just want Sasuke-kun to look at me alone. I'm serious about him," a young Sakura told him.

Back to when they had their first C rank mission, when Sasuke and Tsuki both got hurt protecting him. "Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kuuuun," he heard Sakura cry out for him, sad and in pain.

Back to when Shikamaru led the Sasuke retrieval mission. When he and Tsuki left the village. "Naruto..this is all I want in life, Sasuke-kun. Bring, Sasuke-kun back," Sakura cried to him, voice trembling, just as he was about to leave.

Back to when he arrived back from the mission, bandaged and hurt while sitting on the hospital bed. "This time, we'll do it together," Sakura said with determination as she promised to help him bring Sasuke back.

Back to when they infiltrated Orochimaru's hideout with Sai and Captain Yamato. "Sasuke..-kun," she uttered with shock as she looked up to see both Sasuke and Tsuki standing above them.

Just as the flashbacks ended, he finally became aware that Sakura's hugging him. He stands still, stiff, not knowing what to do as he feels her arms around him.

Sakura...you, Kakashi thinks as he looks at the scene in front of him.

Sai stares blankly, still watching her movements, trying to decrypt everything she does and says.

Kiba stands irritated as he watches her, he wasted time for this mission only for her to confess her 'feelings'.

Lee stands there, conflicted about the whole situation because he watched the girl he had feelings for, confess to a person who wasn't him. This person being one of his friends, comrades.

Yamato just states blankly, also trying to find her hidden motive for this whole fiasco.

"Sasuke-kun keeps getting further away from me, but Naruto, you've always stayed by my side. You've encouraged me. I finally realized who you are, Naruto. The hero who protected the village, beloved by everyone in the village, I'm just one of them. That mischievous little dummy, I knew..little by little is becoming this great and important man and I've been watching from right next to him," she softly smiles. "But all Sasuke's done is commit crimes and break my heart. More and more, he's becoming a different person than he was, so distant. But Naruto, you're right here where I can touch you like this, you make me feel safe. Right now, from the bottom of my heart, I- "

Sakura gets cut off as Naruto grabs her by the shoulders and pushes her away from him. "Give me a break, Sakura-chan! I told you that joke's not funny," he yells at her.

By then, the Haruno girl is stunned, speechless.

She breaks the tension by giving a fake, but realistic, soft laugh. "Have you flipped? I just switched from Sasuke to you. They say a woman's heart is as changeable as the autumn sky, don't they," Sakura informs, giving a closed eye smile.

Naruto's grip on her shoulders, tightens. "I hate people who lie to themselves," he angrily states, glaring at her.

Again, Sakura's stunned to silence as her facial features slowly turn enraged. "You think I'm lying to myself," she questions him. When he down at answer, she continues. "In the only one who knows what I'm thinking! If you don't like me, then just say so!! If you're going to make up excuses-"

"It's just weird! You came all this way just to tell me something like that," Naruto cuts her off, explaining why this is so absurd.

"'Something like that'? 'Something like that'!? You think it's easy for a girl to confess her feelings!!? 'All this way'!? Of course I'd come all this way! You've always been chasing Sasuke and Tsuki, putting yourself in danger! Akatsuki is after you because your the Kyubi's host! You should be worried for your own safety! I-I...don't want you to go after Sasuke if it means putting yourself in that kind of danger. Also, Tsuki, she's been in Akatsuki all these years, she's not the same person we once knew! She helped destroy the village, she attacked Shikamaru and Asuma, she was a part of what happened to Gaara, the Kazekage, and she won't hesitate to attack you! I've come here because I want you to come back to the village with me! That's all," Sakura exclaims, explaining her reason.

"That just sounds like an excuse to me. I think I know you better than that," Naruto comments.

"You don't know anything! I don't care about Sasuke at all anymore, now that he's a criminal! So forget your promise to me," Sakura angrily declares.

This time Naruto gets a solemn look on his face as he looks down. "This isn't about that promise. I know why Sasuke and Tsuki are so obsessed with revenge. Sasuke, he loved his family and clan, I think it's because he loved them so much that he can't let it go. Tsuki, all she wanted was to belong, she craved for the acceptance of her family, only to be pushed away by them and the village. She felt betrayed, lost," Naruto explains to everyone's knowledge.

"Then why did they join the Akatsuki," Kiba questions.

"That's not what happened, the truth is-"

"Naruto," Kakashi cuts him off, warning him.

He thinks back to earlier moments. "Listen, let's keep what Madara said between us. This is top secret," Captain Yamato informed as Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't have anything to do with my promise to you," Naruto continues, snapping back to reality. "I want to help them both," he declares with the up most determination.

After a moment of silence, Kiba walks up to Sakura and whispers to her. "What do you want to do, Sakura? Should we talk him the truth-"

He gets cut off as Sakura punches him in the stomach, making him fall to his knees.

"Fine! I'm going home," Sakura states, turning away and walking back in the direction she came from.

"Oww," Kiba moans in pain. To this, Akamaru whines, feeling empathy towards Kiba.

"Lets go! Kiba! Lee! Sai," Sakura orders, still walking away.

"Sakura-" Lee goes to say, but also gets cut off.

"Let's go," Kiba interrupts as soon as he stands up.

Sakura, who's ahead of everyone else, bows her head as she bites her lip trying to keep the unshed tears from falling. Naruto, I'm sorry.

Once the team is far enough, and also passing Sai's hidden clone, they consult on their next move. Kiba, first to question her previous actions.

"Are you sure about this, Sakura," he says with uncertainty.

Instead of answering him, she avoids it. "Kiba, I have a favor to ask," she tells him.

"What is it?"

"I'm going to look for Sasuke! And I need your help," Sakura states with confidence.

×××

The Kages who were previously in the room, discussing the Raikage's leadership to the Shinobi alliance, are now rushing towards their villages to inform everyone. Except the Kazekage, since Danzo was forced to flee, he took it upon himself to inform the Leaf.

"Then why," Kurotsuchi questions as she runs besides Onoki. "If we destroy the Hachibi and the Kyubi, that will put an end to Madara's plan and we'll be able to weaken Kumo and Konoha as well. It's two birds with one stone!"

"I've decided against that this time," he answers.

"Why!? That's not like the hard headed, old man, I know" she exclaims.

He thinks back to the summit where Gaara questioned him. "When did you lose yourselves," he said boldly.

"Because I remembered," Onoki states.

"Remembered what?"

"Who I used to be before I became a hard headed, old man," he smirks with confidence.

×××

Back with Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato, they were about to enter the inn and go back inside. Well, that was until Sai's clone appeared, walking up to them.

"Sai, why did you," Naruto says only to drift off the end.

"It appears to be a Bunshin," Kakashi confirms.

"When Sakura confessed to you earlier, I will now tell you what she could not," Sai informs them, saying that there was a hidden motive.

"You're kidding me," Naruto frowns.

Kakashi sighs, "I knew something was up."

"What is it Sai," Yamato urges him to continue.

"Sakura didn't come out here to confess her love. She was supposed to to tell you the collective decision made by all your former academy classmates," Sai impassively states.

"I knew something didn't feel right. So she was hiding something," Naruto tells him.

"With everything I've learned I can understand why she acted the way she did," the pale boy reasons.

"Sai...tell me," Naruto demands through his teeth.

"The Lead is going to dispose of Sasuke and Tsuki itself. Your ex-classmates are preparing to act as we speak," Sai informs them.

This stuns the Uzumaki to a shocked silence, leaving him to state at the snowy ground. That's until his anger rises.

"And Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan's play with it too!? But Sakura-chan loves Sasuke, and Tsuki's her own sister. She wouldn't just-"

"Sasuke is only helping spread darkness across the world. Tsuki's in Akatsuki, she's part of that darkness. They're in just another pair of criminals now. They lost all hope of coming back when their group, Akatsuki, attacked our village. Your fellow Leaf Shinobi will never accept them now. Sakura's not stupid, either. She understands the position they put us all in. That's why she came all the way out here. To tell you herself," Sai tells them, his usual blank eyes narrowing.

"T-then why didn't she tell me the truth," Naruto yells, feeling all sorts of conflicted. Confused. Angry. Sad. Hurt.

"It's not an easy thing to say. Especially since she knew how much it would hurt you," the clone answers him.

"B-but still."

"Giving up on Sasuke and Tsuki, and choosing you was Sakura's way of drawing you from your promise. She couldn't just bring herself to tell you the truth when you refused to stop trying to save him. She was only thinking of you. And I think you understand that," Sai informs him of Sakura's reasons.

Naruto says nothing, still too conflicted and confused about the whole situation.

"Actually, Sakura forbade any of us from telling you the truth. She said she wanted to to tell you in person...that is her duty," Sai pointed out.

"But she must've known how Naruto would react. She never intended to tell him the truth at all, did she," Yamato consoled. "What's she going to do now?"

"I honestly have no idea, but if I had the to guess, I'd say Sakura.." the clone stated before drifting the sentence off.

"She plans to kill Sasuke and Tsuki herself," Kakashi fills in.

Naruto's azure eyes widen in shock, his stomach growing heavy as chills run down his spine.

"Does she Sai," Yamato insists towards the clone.

"Probably, yes," Sai confirmed. "Sakura smiles at me and said she'd work with everyone, but this time, I knew it was a facade."

"N-no way...Sakura-chan would n-never, s-she loves Sasuke too much," Naruto trembled as cold sweat trickled down his brow.

"It's because she loves him, and because she feels obliged to stop her own sister, that she doesn't want them to sink any lower. It's because she loves them, that she wants to rescue them from the evil path they walk now. Even if the only way to do it is to kill them with her own two hands. I believe she's prepared for it. Because she loves them," Sai professed to the blonde Shinobi. "Which also means that she's willing to let you hate her forever, Naruto."

Naruto snaps his head up, looking into Sai's eyes with his own wide eyes.

"I think it's her own way of atoning for saddling you with the burden of the promise for so many years, and feeling guilty for being the one who pushed Tsuki to her limit. She's asked too much of you, so she's trying to end all this herself," the clone continues to explain as the others listen.

"Sai, why are you telling me all this," the Uzumaki questions after building up the courage to speak up.

Sai looks down, feeling somewhat ashamed. "I may feel like I may have helped push Sakura into her current state of mind, too, so I wanted you to know. I knew I couldn't just let her go alone. Like I said, I'm a part of Team 7, too," he answers, looking back up at Naruto.

"Uh huh," Naruto mumbles.

Naruto's mind must be reeling from all this, what am I going to do, Kakashi internally sighs as he observes his student.

As their sensei thinks this, Naruto's thinking of everything he just learned. In his mind, a mental picture of their Team as Genin, begins to crack. Every sentence of information causes a crack upon the photo. A spider web of cracks align the photo, reaching the middle where there's a smiling, or smirking, face of his teammates. The cracks first reach both Sasuke and Tsuki, scarring their faces. Next Kakashi, then Sakura, and lastly, himself before the photo breaks to several pieces.

He now realizes that the team he now cherishes, is not the same anymore.

They're broken.

Naruto winces as a pain blooms in his head. But before anyone can do anything, they become aware of new chakra signature. Jumping in front of them are no others than the Sand Siblings.

"We came to bring you guys up to speed, so listen carefully. Because a lot went down at the Kage summit," Temari announces.

×××

Suddenly, somewhere else, a kunai flys in the air before embedding itself in the ground, stopping the target's movements.

"It's been quite some time, Danzo. I haven't seen you since the Uchiha massacre," a voice says as they looking down at the said man.

Danzo looks up and sees the mask of Madara Uchiha. From underneath, a Sharingan shines a dangerous shade of red.

A drawing that I drew, it's of that one Monopoly meme, and I wanted one for this fanfiction, lol. Enjoy, it took a long time (not really).

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Well, that was Chapter 28! 4,042 words, WHOO! Also, sorry again, for taking too long, I had writer's block until this morning when someone commented on the last chapter to update, lol. I forgot your name, but if you're reading this, I thank you!

Anyways, what do you think?

Are Karin and Sakura really similar?

What about Sakura's confession towards Naruto? (Utter Bullsh*t! I ship either NaruHina or SasuNaru! Not, NaruSaku!)

What about Sakura 'loving' Tsuki?

Goddess Mode? What about that?

Ooooh! I can't wait for the next chapter when the action really begins! (I know I said that previous of times, but I swear it upon my *idk something valuable* that the next chapter will be the Danzo VS.Them chapter)!

Also, don't forget to

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JA NE, My cute Turtleducks (who gets this reference, if you do, I love you)!

?¿ If you were a fruit, what would you be?¿

Me, I would be an apple, 'cause they're my favorite fruit. Idk, this question is too random, lol.