Play To Win [Rewrite] || Naruto Fanfic

Suna

The dull gray battlefield stood at a standstill as the remaining shinobi digested the events.

Defeating Kaguya seemed like the biggest hurdle they would have to jump over in this life, yet it seems that for both Sasuke and Naruto, they had one more score to settle.

"Sasuke is a fool." Itachi finally spoke. "Always has been." He left the words unsaid.

"Perhaps." Tamako responded. "But Naruto may rival his foolishness all the same."

Kakashi finally sat down, drained of energy and emotional wellbeing. "The two... understand each other in a far greater capacity." He turns to Sakura as the girl healed up the last few scrapes and injuries on Obito. She doesn't quite meet his gaze, but Tamako could feel strong emotions from her.

Anger.

Sorrow.

Fear.

Tamako could sympathize with Sakura, hell, even she was getting antsy. It wasn't her style to let things play, the feeling of helplessness was all too foreign and it was eating her alive. She wanted to watch the fight, to make sure things didn't escalate to a death she couldn't rewind.

Perhaps Itachi sensed her emotions. He held up a hand and grasped her shoulder with a firm squeeze. "I trust Naruto." He finally deactivated his Sharingan, his orbs turning back to onyx. "He knows Sasuke as well as I do."

She huffed at his works with mirth, her face pitching at the pull of her lungs and tightness in her chest. There was barely any chakra in her to fix herself up, and Sakura already dealt with the worst.

Tamako owes her life to Sakura.

And so does Sasuke.

She leans back against a large turned up rock, resting her weight and feeling a slight dampness on her back and ignores it. "Sakura." Tamako begins lightly. "I won't make any excuses for him." Her fingers twitch as she struggles to gather words. "My time with Sasuke has been... plentiful. I understand him in a way that's difficult to put into words, and he does the same for me." Tamako recalls every memory that beckoned her call. Before she left him and Karin at the South Base. Before he nearly killed Deidara.

Before Danzo.

Tamako puts a hand on her heart and catches Sakura's gaze. "Sasuke truly cares." She doesn't break eye-contact. "I know him too well, and even he can't hide his emotions from me." There's a small smirk on her face, airing out Sasuke's emotions was always something she wanted to do. "The moment before he placed that genjutsu on you..." She trails off with a small laugh. "Did you know he was nervous? The way he froze at your words..."

It was all too obvious to her.

"He was afraid that you would interrupt, just as you did all those years ago at the roof of the hospital." She turned her dark eyes to Sakura's bright green ones. "He doesn't want you to get hurt, let alone be injured with his feud against Naruto. And despite it all, he wants to be left alone. How bipolar of him."

Silence, then a laugh.

Obito covered his mouth with both hands, looking around at them before frowning. "What?"

Tamako rolls her eyes. "We were having a moment, you know? A true kunoichi to kunoichi. It's not like you men would understand."

Obito spluttered, "Excuse me? I'm just making fun of my emotionally constipated cousin!" What an ironic statement.

Sakura stands up suddenly, her fists balled up with fire in her eyes. "I'm going." She turns to the group. "If it's the Naruto and Sasuke that I know... they'll be at it 'till black and blue."