AND BACK AGAIN [ NARUTO ]

[ 38 ] a medic

Sasuke wanted to drop everything and find his brother. He was in the past, wasn't he? He could tell Itachi that he did forgive him, he forgave him long ago. He could ask the questions he'd never been able to ask, he could get the guidance he'd always yearned for from the one he looked up to.

But this wouldn't be his Itachi. The Uchiha Itachi of this time, and his future, belonged to the people of this timeline. The Sasuke here deserved a chance to change things.

"Get the cursemark off," he ordered. "We'll wait."

///\

Sakura would've clung to Past Sasuke when Orochimaru's hungry eyes swept over him if she didn't know that this was probably the best possible thing that had happened to him since the Chuunin Exams.

Sure, handing him over to the snake Sannin after everything he'd done to them in the forest terrified her. What could they do to stop him, once Sasuke was within his grasp? What awful things did he desire with their teammate? Too many, she knew.

But Naruto and Sasuke's future self were there. Sasuke wouldn't let anything happen to his own past, would he? Sakura had begun to question exactly where his loyalties lied, but one thing was absolute: Sasuke's resolve to fulfill his goals. And even if those had changed sometime in the future, he wouldn't sabotage that.

Besides, Past Sasuke needed this. Sakura had seen how he got when Orochimaru's cursemark bothered him. It was scary. She'd wanted him to be rid of that nasty thing since he'd stood over her, bending the arm of another genin in some uncontrollable rage. It was a lot like the way Past Naruto got, too, when the Nine Tails stirred.

Sasuke was strong without it. He didn't need it, and he didn't need something that would mess with his true intentions and blind him of the important things.

Sakura was sure of this. She was sure this was what she wanted.

Then she looked over to him, to Past Sasuke, when the others were discussing what came next. And she saw it there, in his coal-black eyes, that this was completely and utterly not something he had control of. He stood, resigned--calm, cool, and collected--but there was a raging storm hidden in his eyes. He was just as scared as she was, probably. And confused. And hurt.

So who was she to decide these things for him?

She never had been. No one gave her permission to decide what was right for him. Only he had that.

"Sasuke-kun," she whispered. Sakura would move closer, if she could. She and Past Naruto had already pulled in so close when they first arrived that they were practically sandwiching Past Sasuke, pressed against him on either side. Her whisper, inevitably, caught the attention of both her teammates.

She wanted to tell him he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to. But, then--maybe the things he wanted and the things he didn't want wouldn't align with what was best for him and what wasn't. So she couldn't say that. Besides, the situation was out of their hands. Past Sasuke, if he refused Orochimaru's help, would be at odds with not only his future counterpart, but Naruto's, too. And Kakashi-sensei, most likely. And Past Naruto. And. . .and herself.

Even if she didn't push him on this one; even if she didn't voice her approval for the removement of that cursemark--someone else would. So she could not tell him to speak up. To back away; to refuse this.

Instead, she gripped his hand and told him, "It'll be okay."

And it would be. Soon enough, it would be.