𝒈𝒍𝒖𝒆.

𝟘𝟘𝟙: 𝕊𝕒𝕜𝕦𝕣𝕒

𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔.

Sakura watched in horror as Sasuke and Naruto rushed at each other, Sasuke with Kusanagi charged with Chidori Nagashi, and Naruto with his Rasenshuriken, eerily reminiscent of the scene from the hospital rooftop, so long ago. Her cries for them to stop fell on deaf ears, and she struggled fruitlessly to reach them, Kakashi's arms a steel restraint around her.

"Let me go, sensei! I... I need to stop them!" Sakura cried, still struggling, her mind half-stuck on the past, bringing her back to that day, making her regress back to her mentality then, of 'ohgodIneedtostopthem,Ineedtoreachthem,pleaseletmereachthemintime...!'

"Sakura... it's too dangerous. There's nothing we can do." Kakashi's solemn voice sounded. Sakura ignored his words, despite knowing how much those words cost him to say, despite knowing that he was right, despite knowing that they were too worn out from fighting Team Taka to be in any shape to intervene.

"But... But... They'll die!" Her voice cracked on the last word. It wasn't supposed to be this way. They were supposed to be a team, and even more than that, a family. They were supposed to support each other, and forgive each other, and love each other above all else. Sasuke was supposed to return to them, and they were supposed to forgive him, and they were supposed to work towards mending the bonds that had been broken years ago.

It wasn't supposed to be this way!

And yet, Sasuke and Naruto were heading towards each other with the intent to kill, their eyes filled will nothing but hate for each other, wielding their most lethal attacks, treating each other like enemies and not like the brother they should be, and shehadtoreachthem!

Summoning the last vestiges of chakra from somewhere within her, Sakura forced her way out of Kakashi's hold, and made a desperate attempt to reach the duo.

She shunshin-ed between them (she'd been so proud when she had learnt it, all by herself, had waited for the perfect moment to show her achievement to her boys-), her position (between them, as always-) only enhancing the feeling of déjà vu they felt. And, in the same way, their eyes widened in horror - Naruto's red with slitted pupils, Sasuke's surrounded by the traces of the tears of blood he'd cried earlier - knowing that they couldn't move out of the path they were on.

But Kakashi wasn't going to save the day this time. She could hear his anguished cry behind her - she was too far, he was too tired, he was going to be too late, and she hoped he wouldn't blame himself, because it had been her choice, had always been her choice.

She could never stand by when she could do something to help her boys, even if it cost her her life.

Even as that thought crossed her mind, she knew it was a futile hope; her boys always did have the tendency to blame themselves for things that weren't their fault, to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, to take on burdens and responsibilities that weren't theirs to begin with... And it had always been her, who tried to be there for them, tried to be their support, to give them love and comfort when they were overwhelmed, to be their sanctuary when they needed it most.

Though even in that, she had failed. With Kakashi, she'd ironically been too late - his scars were too old, his wounds too deep for her to even begin to scratch the surface. With Sasuke, she'd never been there, not in the way he needed - too foolish and blinded when they were younger, and then never close enough, in all the ways that mattered: physically, mentally, emotionally... And with Naruto, who had given so much for her and the village, she'd never understood him, never tried, until they'd grown up and she'd realised just how much she had wilfully ignored about him, insisting on casting him as the village idiot, and nothing more.

She gave one last smile to her boys, bitter with could-have-beens and should-haves, with what-ifs and maybes, and yet devastatingly beautiful all the same - a smile filled with love, and acceptance, and most of all...

Forgiveness.

Because she was the glue that held them all together, and she would do anything for her boys.

Because, in the end, she was still the same helpless little girl on the rooftop, crying for her teammates to stop fighting.