The room Sakura and I'd been given the night before has a stunning view of the village. It faces the village entrance; the wide space formed between the hardened mountain-high sand dunes reveals the rising sun, which blinds me the moment I open my eyes. The noise I make wakes Sakura up from the bed across from me, and she doesn't look pleased.
"Sorry," I say. "I'm not a morning-type of person." She lets out an exhausted groan, which almost instantly turns into a yawn.
"I don't think anyone is," she says through it.
We dress and prepare ourselves in silence, worn out from the past three days of travel. I've been well-rested, thankfully, enough to relocate the location of the Akatsuki. If I'd been able to sense Gaara's chakra, it'd be no problem. But for some reason, and I'd tried last night, having gone on a walk around the village to let out my restlessness, I couldn't find a trace of him. All that remains are the bits that are scattered throughout the Kazekage mansion and the village, itself.
Don't you worry, Gaara—we're coming to save you!
卍
"Seems we'll be working in conjunction with a squad from the Sand Village," Kakashi-sensei tells us, once we've all met outside. "As soon as they're here, we move out."
I see six figures emerge from one of the exits of the Kazekage mansion, and note that both Temari and Kishibi are among them.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Temari says.
"If that's everybody?" Kakashi-sensei asks. Kishibi nods.
"Okay, there's no time to waste!" Naruto says, limbering up. "Let's get this show on the road!"
"Hold it!" a voice shouts. Startled, I look above us, just as Baki drops between our two groups. "Temari, you and your group are to stay here and patrol the perimeter."
She gapes at them. "Are you kidding me or what?" she demands.
"Orders," he says, "from above." Temari gasps. "If word gets out that the Kazekage's missing, our enemies may use it as an opportunity to launch an attack on the village."
"Come on!" the girl with the purple face paint exclaims.
"Don't you get it? That's all the more reason we have to get him back as soon as quickly as we can!" She suddenly gestures to us. "Look at these Leaf Ninja; they left their home and came all the way here just to help us rescue Gaara! And Gaara's not even their leader! He's our Kazekage! The Sand Shinobi should be the ones to save him!"
"I'm sorry—""Well, I'm going!"
Once more, I'm startled, and immediately start searching for the source of the voice. Up on top of the Kazekage mansion stands an elderly woman—Lady Chiyo.
"If a Sand Shinobi is needed, I'm the one to go," she announces.
"Granny Chiyo?!"
"But... you're so..."
"I'm retired, yes," she says, "but that means, of course, I'm free to do whatever I want."
"But milady!" Kishibi shouts, concern washing over her expression. "It's such a long journey...!"
"Bah! Don't treat me like a fossil!" she shouts, and dives down toward us, landing easily on the ground.
"Milady," Kishibi breathes.
"After all, it's been a while since I doted on my adorable grandchild." Chiyo rises to her full height, a solid five feet and a couple inches, and without a single ounce of hesitation, takes the side of her hand, and thwacks Kishibi with it.
"Ow!"
"For underestimating me, again," she says.
卍
"All right, we'll head out on our own, then."
"Thank you," Baki says. "I'll try to convince the council to change their mind."
"Don't worry," Temari tells us. "We'll catch up to you!"
"By the time you've caught up with us, we'll have already rescued Gaara!" Naruto promises.
"We'll see you soon," Sakura says. With a nod from me to Kishibi, we leave.
卍
Being back in the forest brings me a lot of comfort, and relieves the edge I've had since entering the village. The Hidden Sand is a lot different than the Hidden Leaf – in a good way – but nothing beats the cool breeze and the smell of freshwater creeks.
"Naruto," Sakura says, after we've crossed over one of them. "Can I ask you a question?" She hesitates; by the look on her face, she's probably unsure of how to ask it. "... how long do you think the Akatsuki's been after you?"
Naruto thinks for a moment, his expression heavy. "I don't know," he replies.
"Two members of the Akatsuki came to the Leaf looking for Naruto once, and for whatever reason, Kari," Kakashi-sensei tells her. "But it's been three years since then, and no sign of them. And now, they're back."
"But why do you think they took so long to make another move?" Sakura asks.
"It could be they wanted to act before this point, but for some reason, they couldn't," he guesses.
"Do you think it could be because Master Jiraiya was around?" I offer. "They split as soon as they realized they couldn't beat him."
"That's not it," Lady Chiyo says from behind. "From what I've learned, there was an entirely different reason they had to wait this long."
"Which was?"
"If you're going to try and draw out the Tailed Beasts that dwells within, a great deal of preparation is involved. They just needed some more time."
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asks. "What Tailed Beasts?"
"My, my, you're a student of that old Slug Queen Tsunade and you don't even know that?" Lady Chiyo says. "When the Leaf, itself, is host to the Nine Tailed Fox?"
"The Nine Tailed Fox spirit is not something we talk about," Kakashi-sensei says. "It's considered "top secret"."
I can't hold back my bitter scoff.
"Really?" Lady Chiyo says. "Well, not surprising, I guess. Tailed Beasts are demon spirits with one or more tails. The Sand have had a single Tailed Beast since long ago. That's the Shukaku, sealed within Gaara."
"So then, there's more of these demon spirits?" Sakura says, eyes wide.
"There are nine in total," I say, "and they all have their own abilities and distinct characteristics to them. Not to mention, the total of tails they have. If the Shukaku is the One-Tails, it's the same down to line, all the way up to Naruto's Nine-Tails."
"The Beasts are huge concentrations of chakra," Lady Chiyo goes on, "and during the great war, every nation competed for control of them for military purposes. They fought relentlessly over them, but the Tailed Beasts were beyond human imagining. No one could control them."
"Whatever the Akatsuki's intentions are with the Tailed Beasts, with that kind of power, there's just no way they could control one, let alone nine," I reason. I shake my head. "Not that they'll ever get the chance to.
"I've done plenty of research on the Tailed Beasts while I was in the Hidden Snow," I tell them. "Shortly after the end of the Third Shinobi War, the Tailed Beasts were sealed away; forgotten, neglected. There are only a few that are known of, like Gaara's One-Tail, Naruto's Nine-Tails, and a Shinobi in the Village Hidden in the Waterfall's Seven-Tails." I leap over the next creek instead of following the stone path. "More and more of them, with the Akatsuki's arrival, will start popping up, sooner than later."
卍
Instead of keeping my Sensory Scope activated, I'd been checking at three minute intervals to conserve my chakra. A battle is inevitable at this point; I'll be in the way if I don't have enough to use. Of course, that's never a problem. The real issue is how physically exhausted I get if I go past my original limit. I have no choice but to take things easy.
I let my scope out to just over four hundred feet. But there's no need for such a range; twenty-three feet from us stands none other than Itachi Uchiha.
"Everyone, stop!" I shout, just as he comes into view in a narrow clearing. The others slide to a stop behind me, and I pant. "I'm sorry... I didn't sense him soon enough."
But my lateness only appears to be a formality to Naruto.
"I know you," he growls at him. "Itachi Uchiha!"
"So..." Lady Chiyo steps up beside me. "That's the one. The child who wiped out his entire clan."
Our... entire clan. The thought had risen before I had the chance to discard it.
"Kakashi. Naruto. Kari. It's been a while," Itachi says. I make sure to keep my eyes away from his. At any moment, he could put us under a Genjutsu, and that'd be the end of that.
"I wasn't enough for you, huh?" Naruto says, pointing straight at him. "You had to go after Gaara, as well! I'll destroy every one of you!"
With that, Itachi raises his hand in front of him. Kakashi-sensei gasps.
"Everyone!" he shouts. "Whatever you do, don't look him in the eyes! Itachi's Genjutsu is a visual Jutsu, which means avoid eye contact with him and his Jutsu can't take effect."
"Yeah, that, I know," Naruto says.
"Okay, so then... how are we supposed to fight him?" Sakura asks.
"... that's the tricky part," Kakashi-sensei says. "You have to anticipate his moves by watching his feet; his body."
"But that's like fighting with one arm tied behind your back," Sakura reasons, sounding frustrated.
"The Uchiha Clan, eh?" Lady Chiyo murmurs. "It's been a long time since I've gone up against the Sharingan."
Naruto and I both end up gasping in unison.
"Don't act so surprised," she tells us. "I've been around, and I know there's more than one way to fight a visual Jutsu like that."
"Yeah? Like what, then?" Naruto asks.
"If one against one, abandon the field. If two against one, take the rear and he'll yield."
"... what's that mean?"
"Well, the first part of it is pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? The Sharingan can never be beaten in single combat. But, if you outnumber the Sharingan user, if the battle is two against one, then even if one is caught in his Genjutsu, the other is free to strike from the rear, breaking the Genjutsu's spell. Even if your attack from the rear should fail, somehow, you're still free to strike your comrade, himself, and break the Genjutsu that way.
"So if one of them fights him face-to-face as a distraction, the rest of us will mount a series of attacks from the rear, where his Sharingan can't reach."
"Good plan," Sakura agrees.
"I guess you learn a lot of stuff like that if you live long enough. Then let's go," Naruto says. "I'll take the rear—""Wait," Kakashi-sensei says, stopping him in his tracks.
"Okay, Sensei, we're waiting. But what are we waiting for?"
"Do you have a problem with my way of fighting the Sharingan?" Lady Chiyo asks. "Are you suggesting my methods won't work?"
"No," Kakashi-sensei says. "They work fine against ordinary Genjutsu. But what we're dealing with here is something much more complicated."
"Meaning what?"
"He uses Mangekyō Sharingan, which is far more powerful than any other visual Jutsu. It only takes a second, but if he hits you with that Jutsu, it'll be the longest second you've ever lived. Time, itself, gets warped; what seems like a second in the real world could be hours or days to someone trapped in his Jutsu. I know. I wandered around in it for three days, and lost consciousness for more than a week. It's not a Genjutsu that can be broken just like that."
I grit my teeth.
"That does sound tricky," Lady Chiyo says. "What a troublesome fellow, this is."
"Very good, Kakashi," Itachi compliments. "I see your turn in my Tsukuyomi wasn't wasted."
"Oh, believe me, I learned something else, as well," Kakashi-sensei says. "There's a price to pay for using that Sharingan. It exhausted you, didn't it? You had to quit before the battle was over. So in addition to using up a lot of chakra, you risk permanent damage to your eye every time you use that Jutsu, don't you, Itachi?"
"You seemed to have learned a great deal from our one brief encounter."
"I wonder," our Sensei says, and he lifts the headband covering his own Sharingan eye away from it. "How much damage has already been done to your eyesight?"
Itachi seems surprised. But why? He'd known about the Sharingan during their battle back then, right? Of course, he did; it's not like Kakashi-sensei would've fought without it against someone like Itachi. Unless the reason for such a reaction had been because... Kakashi-sensei has the Mangekyō Sharingan, too?
"I underestimated you back then, I admit it," he tells him. "But I am not the fool I used to be. Things aren't going to go the same way, this time, I promise you that."
"Yeah, and don't you go thinking I'm the same kid, either," Naruto says. "A lot of things have changed since then."
"Naruto, leave him to me," Kakashi-sensei says.
"Huh?"
"Wait, you don't seriously expect us to sit back and—!""No," our Sensei interrupts me. "This time, you cover me. I wish I could say you guys go on ahead and that I can handle this alone... but I'd never make the same mistake twice."
I activate my Sensory Scope. If there's one foolproof way of getting past not just the Sharingan, but the Mangekyō Sharingan, it's using my abilities as a Sensory Shinobi to literally fight him with my eyes closed; something that'd taken me three years to perfect.
"... it's time the two of you came with me," Itachi suddenly says, having pointed in our direction.
"Me, first!" Kakashi-sensei flies past us without a second thought, and throws his fist at Itachi, who catches it in his palm. As I'd both sensed and suspected, a Shadow Clone runs past our Sensei.
I know, I think, rushing ahead of the others, my eyes shut firmly. I know I'm the only one here who can avoid Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan without fault. The only problem is...
"... you've managed to trap me in one, haven't you?!"
I jump forward, barreling into the Clone with my fist outstretched. I sense it slide away before dispersing before me.
The world around me shifts. The sky flashes red, the earth, a deep purple. But then it returns to normal, and before me stands Itachi, and two more of his Shadow Clones.
"Damn it," I curse, and I brace myself, my heart pounding. "When did you do it?"
"Right before this battle began," he tells me. "I commend you; you were quick to figure it out."
"You made it obvious," I say, standing upright. "Now, before I get out of here, tell me. What do you plan to do once you have all the Tailed Beasts? It seems quite excessive. And why do you need me? I'm not a Jinchūriki."
"No, you're not. But you do possess a rare natural ability that the Akatsuki have taken notice of."
"There's nothing special about having unlimited chakra," I say, trying to downplay it. "What would you people want with that, anyway?" Itachi doesn't answer, as I'd expected from him. I clap my hands together. "Whatever. Talk or don't talk, I'm getting out of this Genjutsu."
But before I can, however, a flock of crows fly toward me from Itachi, disrupting my flow of chakra. The others must know I'm trapped in this Genjutsu by now, I think. I leap up into the air to avoid the flock, and once I'd reached the highest point in the air, something sharp nicks my shoulder, and sends me back down toward the ground. I land awkwardly, dropping to my foot and knee, only feet away from Itachi, himself.
If this is only a regular Genjutsu, then I can't do anything to him, and vice versa, I realize. So I stand up before him, and stare him straight into his blood red eyes.
"Three years ago, I saw into your past," I tell him, my teeth gritted. "The day you killed your clan, and the day you spared Sasuke. You spawned the hatred inside him. This is something that won't be forgiven! But... at the same time, I can't bring myself to despise you as much as I had before then, and I don't know why!"
I jump away from him once more, my hands clapped together. As much as I can, I expel my chakra from my body, and Itachi sends his crows at me once more. While my chakra deflects most of them, a handful of them make it through, and impale my left shoulder and thigh. I cry out in pain, but keep my palms facing each other, regardless.
What the—? How are his attacks affecting me? I think back to what Kakashi-sensei had said earlier about what Itachi's Genjutsu could do. But I can't recall it. No matter how much it hurts, I know it's just a Genjutsu.
Something thin and pale floats past my eyes, and I become fear-struck when I realize that it's my own skin peeling away from my face. I can't help the scream that escapes me. I remind myself that it's only a Genjutsu, that it isn't real. But when I hear a voice speak, that is unalike mine or Itachi's, and instead, one from my past, I nearly lose myself.
"Kari... how could you?" it asks me. Long and white, my grandmother's head of hair falls down my back and chest. Blind, I can no longer see out my right eye. "How could you abandon me?"
"... y-you told me to!" I shout. "There was... there wasn't anything I could do!"
As if someone else is controlling me, my hands are pulled away from the other; the hand on the side my face had been peeling away from reaches down my leg, to my kunai holster. My eyes widen, and unable to stop myself, I take one out.
"I should have let them take you that night, Kari," Makara growls. "Maybe then, I would still be alive!"
My possessed arm aims the tip of the kunai toward my heart.
"Gr-Grandmother, stop!" I cry, and I grab my other hand with my left.
Suddenly, my stomach curdles. Through my struggle to keep me from killing myself, I double over, falling onto my one knee. Ripples spread across my skin, and to my disbelief, a head begins to form—one belonging to my mother.
"M-Mom!" I exclaim.
"What was I thinking," she says, glaring up at me, "sacrificing myself for someone like you. I should've known better than to give my life up for you to turn out like this, Kari. A failure!"
"Please don't say that," I breathe. My grip falters on my other hand, but I manage to catch it, a mere inch away from my chest. My left shoulder begins to ache, and once more, another head grows out of my skin. This time, belonging to Naruto.
"All this time, I knew," he says, his blue eyes narrowed at me. "You never wanted to be my friend; you only pitied me. You make me sick."
"N-No!" I shout, my voice trembling. "Don't say that! That's not true!"
"Not true?" another voice says. My formerly unpossessed hand tears away from my right; I gape at it, as a familiar eye opens, this being pitch black. Sasuke! I realize. "When will you stop lying to yourself, Kari? To everyone? You couldn't even tell them the truth about yourself."
"B-But Sasuke, I never— W-What are you—?"
A tear slips out my left eye. It's just a Genjutsu! I insist. It's just a Genjutsu! What they're saying – what these fakes are saying – isn't true! But still... coming from them with those voices... it hurts more than any kunai!
"Why didn't I let them take you, Kari?"
"I should've let you die rather than give you my life!"
"You make me so sick."
"You've lied to everyone."
My remaining strength in my other arm, the strength being used to hold myself back from ending myself, begins to slip away. My chest aches, the tip of the kunai now pressed up against my skin.
"Why couldn't I have been the one to live?"
"I'm embarrassed to call you my daughter."
"Disgusting."
"You're a liar!"
Grandmother... mom... Naruto... Sasuke...! Please...!
"Please," I cry. "Someone... please, make it stop...!"
"Kari!"
The earth trembles beneath my feet, and my wounds, and the voices, disappear. In their place are the hands of Sakura and Lady Chiyo—I can feel their chakra pouring into me. The whole time, I discover I've been holding my breath; my sweat rolls down my neck and face; my body shakes uncontrollably.
"What..."
"You two got caught in a Genjutsu," Sakura says, "but you're going to be all right. We all funneled our chakra into you and broke the hold."
You two? I think, and I look next to me to find Naruto, his face pale and his eyes wide.
"But... his Shadow Clones," I whisper.
"What do you mean his Shadow Clones?" Lady Chiyo asks. "Why, he's used no such thing the entire time we've been here!"
"Yeah," Sakura says. "All of a sudden, you guys just charged in, attacking at nothing. Don't you remember any of that?"
"... you're saying... we were already in the Genjutsu?" Naruto breathes. I bend over, hands on my knees, panting. I can't even bring myself to look at Naruto after what'd happened in that Genjutsu.
"I'm afraid he's using more than just a visual Jutsu," Lady Chiyo tells us.
"I think it's about time for the main event," Kakashi-sensei says. "You two better get it together."
A hand rests itself on my shoulder. I look up, and find that it belongs to Lady Chiyo.
"... I-I..."
"Come on," Kakashi-sensei calls back to us. "I'll show you how it's done."
I take a deep breath, and force myself upright. "Yeah," I say. I only notice it at the end, but Itachi had just weaved the hand signs for a Fire Style Jutsu.
"Fire Style, Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" I'm unsurprised when Kakashi-sensei manages to dodge every one of them. "Fire Style," he calls out once more, "Fireball Jutsu!"
I step ahead of the others, mid-weave, and negate his Fireball Jutsu with a "Water Style, Water Wall Jutsu!"
They both quickly evaporate, creating a small explosion in the space between us and Itachi. This had given Kakashi-sensei enough time to use his Chidori, the energy from it causing great damage to the earth beneath him. He charges at Itachi, who jumps into the air to avoid his strike, only to be taken by surprise by Naruto, a Rasengan at the ready. I don't sense a change in Itachi's chakra when Naruto supposedly connects, and once the dust from the impact clears, my suspicion is correct. However, Naruto is nowhere in sight, nor our Sensei.
I sense for them both, and find them hidden amongst the trees. Suddenly, a mist begins to roll through the forest; I recognize the technique not as Itachi's, but as Kakashi-sensei's.
"Don't worry," I say to both Sakura and Lady Chiyo. "This is Kakashi-sensei's Jutsu."
"The mist is getting thicker, so we all need to focus now," Lady Chiyo says. "You must keep your attention firmly fixed on Kakashi's presence."
"Right," we chorus.
A sudden Fireball Jutsu blows away the effects of the Hidden Mist Jutsu, and within the explosion, I sense Kakashi-sensei use his Hidden Mole Jutsu to escape it. A moment later, he pops out of the ground before Itachi, fist outstretched. Itachi catches his hand, and moves to strike, but Kakashi-sensei dodges it. I have a strange feeling that one of them caught the other in a Genjutsu, and unfortunately, it's our Sensei. More accurately, a Shadow Clone. And that means...
"Attack him and my Shadow Clone!" Kakashi-sensei shouts. "Now, Naruto!"
"I'm on it!" both the real and one of Naruto's own Shadow Clones says, a Rasengan formed between them. They both run at Itachi, and call out, "Giant Rasengan!" before landing their strike on their target.
Was Naruto infusing his chakra? I wonder, peering out behind one of the trees lining the clearing. It felt almost... Nine-Tails-like. When the dust and debris clear and settle, my eyes instantly widen.
"No way!" I exclaim, and I burst out of the forest, running toward the place of impact.
"Kari!" I hear Sakura shout, but I don't stop.
"This chakra," I say, and I slide to a stop beside Naruto, "Isn't Itachi's!"
I'd never been righter. Right from the beginning, it hadn't been Itachi at all. Some kind of Jutsu had been used for this, to mask the chakra of the true man behind everything. But he'd been controlled, somehow. And now
"Lady Chiyo," Kakashi-sensei says, both him and the others joining us. "Do you know who this person is?"
"I do," she answers. "His name is Yura... and he's a Jōnin from our own village."
"A Sand Shinobi?" Naruto breathes.
"What does this mean?" Kakashi-sensei murmurs.
"I wish I knew," Lady Chiyo says.
"Yura?" I repeat, stunned. "But isn't he the man that Baki said had gone missing?"
"Yes," she says. "He disappeared after Gaara was abducted, and the village was in disarray."
Sakura gasps. "Is it possible he was a spy for the Akatsuki?" she suggests.
"No," Lady Chiyo says. "He served on the council for four years!"
I frown down at the man. "Then maybe, it wasn't by choice," I offer after a moment. A break of silence washes over us, until Kakashi-sensei interrupts it.
"The Fireball Jutsu," he says. "It was created by the Uchiha Clan. It's their specialty. And that attack... was the real thing."
"Is it possible one of the Akatsuki has the ability to trade places with another?" I ask him.
"It can't be ruled out," our Sensei answers. Lady Chiyo reaches into her sleeve, pulling out parchment, and ink, and begins writing out our discovery.
"Just as I thought," she says. "They were clearly trying to stall for time."
"That's an impressive Jutsu they've got," Kakashi-sensei admits.
"For them to use a Jutsu like this to stall us can mean only one thing: It's worse than I thought. The extraction of the Tailed Beasts has already begun."
"We're out of time," our Sensei adds. "We need to get to Gaara right away."
"So, wait, hold on," Sakura says. "What do you mean by... extraction?"
"... they're after the Shukaku," Lady Chiyo explains. "If they can draw out the One-Tail, then they can create a new Jinchūriki."
"A new Jinchūriki?" she repeats.
"I told you, didn't I? How the Tailed Beasts possess power beyond all reckoning? And how every land has tried to use them as military weapons?" Sakura nods. "The Jinchūriki is the name given to those who control that power."
"But earlier you said..." She trails off.
"Not for lack of try," Lady Chiyo says, having taken a guess at what Sakura was getting to. "There were, of course, those who tried to harness great power for their own purposes, attempting to take control of the beasts by sealing them away inside of people. By doing so, they hope to supress the Tailed Beasts great power, and then bend that might to their will.
"And the ones with the Tailed Beasts sealed inside of them, such as our own village's Gaara... are known as Jinchūriki. Jinchūriki wield unimaginable power, thanks to the resonance with the Beasts they carry. And if you count Gaara, then all told, there have been three Jinchūriki in the Hidden Sand Village thus far."
Lady Chiyo finishes her report, rolls out a second scroll, and releases the contents; a yellow bird puppet. She twists the metal knob on its back, places the report between its metal beak, and sends it off toward the Hidden Sand.
"There were several wars fought using the Jinchūriki, weren't there?" Sakura suddenly growls.
"Yeah," I say.
"And the people who've become Jinchūriki...!" She stops short, after I'd given her a look of warning. Both Naruto's expression and his chakra, have been off since our discovery. "All right, then. How are the Tailed Beasts extracted?"
Naruto gasps.
"There's only one way to do it," I say, "with a Sealing Jutsu that can overpower the Tailed Beasts, and lots of time. But, when you've got that, then..." I shake my head, unable to say the words. Even the thought of... Gaara... Naruto...
"You don't mean," Sakura breathes.
"Yeah," I say, my voice hoarse. "If a Tailed Beast gets extracted, then the Jinchūriki... dies. And that's how it's always been. If the current Jinchūriki becomes ill, fatally injured, or a spoil of war, then the Tailed Beast gets taken from them, and placed in another. As a result, they die, the effects too much on their bodies. I've... seen it happen once before."
Sakura turns away from me. I just barely caught the tears rolling down her cheeks when she had. I'm about to reach for her, but with no words of comfort coming to mind, I hold myself back.
"You always were quick to cry, huh, Sakura?" Naruto says. "Hey, don't worry. I promise, I'm gonna save Gaara!"
"Don't you get it?" she says. "Naruto, I'm concerned—!""We better hurry," he interrupts, leading the way in the opposite direction of the Hidden Sand.
"Nothing will happen to him," I say aloud, voicing my thoughts. Sakura turns to me, wet-faced and wide-eyed. "Not on my watch."