Tabula Rasa
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Rating: T
World: Kazekage!Sasori AU
Notes: I posted this a long time ago on Tumblr as part of a fic-art trade. There are some things I'm kind of meh about with respect to the writing style, as tends to be the case with stuff I've written over a year ago, but I really like this AU and the story regardless. I figured I might as well migrate this over to FFNet as a sort of apology for not working on existing Naruto stuff. No matter how demotivated I might be considering the Naruto "ending", I will probably always be SasoSaku trash, for better and for best. Also, I came up with this idea because those tree log things spanning the chasm in the Kakashi and Naruto vs. Deidara fight/chase were just dumb and I wanted to get rid of them. Enjoy this one-shot!
For three years, Sakura's life had taken on some semblance of repetition. It was familiar, tried and true, and she had the muscle mass and callouses to prove it. But when Naruto got back from his solo training with Jiraiya, all of a sudden life remembered her. The days were no longer a wash of medical ninjutsu training in the mornings, taijutsu in the afternoons, and girl time at night.
"So what d'ya mean Gaara's gone?" Naruto asked. "Where is he?"
Kakashi ran ahead of his former Genin recruits at top speed. Pakkun and the other ninken were farther ahead chasing Gaara's scent from a scrap of garment Baki's messenger hawk had carried to them the other day.
"We don't have all the details, Naruto, I told you that," Kakashi hedged. "But it's serious."
"What the hell does that mean? Damnit, something happened to him, I can smell it, you know?"
Sakura brought up the rear. She'd been mostly silent during their non-stop journey from Konoha to River Country. Updates came from Baki every few hours on Gaara's status. First he'd been fighting an unknown enemy in Suna, and then shortly after the enemy kidnapped him. There was no word yet on whether he was still alive, though. Sakura couldn't blame Naruto for worrying.
"Kakashi-sensei," she said. "You're not telling us everything. Who's behind this? Not a lot of shinobi could take out Gaara."
Kakashi kept his gaze ahead, but Naruto shot her a concerned look over his shoulder. "Sakura-chan's right. What's really going on?"
There was a long pause as the three of them raced across the treetops. Naruto looked like he was about to start making more forceful demands, but just then Pakkun leaped to the forest floor.
"Pakkun," Kakashi said, following. Naruto and Sakura soon joined them on the ground.
"The trail ends here," Pakkun said.
They were near the edge of a cliff, and below a sleepy river flowed through a chasm in the forest. The trees thinned beyond it, making room for the winding tributaries that gave this country its name. In the distance, hills undulated like waves frozen in time among the trees and shadows.
Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate and revealed the Sharingan. "The water's interfering with the scent, but I can see life forces up ahead. We need a way across. Sakura?"
Sakura got up and approached the nearest tree. It was huge, taller than most buildings in Konoha. After a moment to size it up, she positioned herself behind it, fired up her chakra, and let the bark have it.
Splinters exploded under her bare fist as the tree roots whined and ripped free of the earth. The tree teetered and, with the help of gravity, crashed toward the chasm. Its weight dragged it down several yards, but it eventually came to a stop and formed a crude bridge to the other side.
"Thank you. Let's get going," Kakashi said.
Naruto yanked him back before he could move. "Hold up. Tell me what you're hiding."
"Naruto, now isn't the time—"
"He's my friend, goddamnit! I swear to god, if you know something and you're not telling me..."
"Naruto's right," Sakura said. "We have a right to know what we're up against. We're not little kids anymore."
Kakashi looked between the two of them and sighed. "I don't have all the information, but from what Baki described, we're pretty sure Akatsuki's behind the attack."
Naruto's eyes flashed red with Kyuubi chakra. "Akatsuki," he spat. "If they hurt Gaara, I'll kill them."
Akatsuki.
Sakura remembered that name from several years ago. Naruto and Sasuke had run into them in Konoha back when Itachi was after the Kyuubi. She gasped.
"Of course. They must be after Shukaku."
The revelation didn't mollify Naruto. "Then we gotta hurry."
He took off without waiting for them, and Kakashi swore. "Come on, we can't let him charge in there without a plan."
Sakura nodded and darted after her teammates across the chasm. They soon found themselves in a ravine at the mouth of a great cave blocked by a giant boulder.
And they weren't alone.
"Kakashi, you're late. You know how much I hate waiting."
Sakura immediately recognized Temari and her signature fan. She was standing off to the side with an old woman, who was busy observing the giant boulder as though it were the most fascinating rock she'd ever laid eyes on. The man who spoke spared neither her nor Naruto a glance, but Sakura noticed that he wore the signature white and blue Kazekage robe over his normal shinobi attire.
"Sorry, Sasori. You won't believe this, but that three-day run from Konoha actually takes three whole days."
"...Hilarious."
Akasuna no Sasori.
She remembered him, though it had been three years since the botched Chuunin exams when she last saw him. He hadn't been the Kazekage then, but the Sand Siblings' Jōnin mentor. Kakashi had briefly introduced him to Team 7, though Sasori had seemed totally indifferent to their existence. Thinking back on that day, Sakura supposed he had more important things on his mind than an old rival's fledgling Genin team.
"What's the situation here?" Kakashi asked.
Sasori indicated the boulder. "The Akatsuki are in there with Gaara. I broke the seal, but none of us have the Douton affinity necessary to break through solid rock."
"Gaara's in there?" Naruto demanded.
Sasori cast him a glance askance. "Uzumaki Naruto. I see you haven't changed much in three years."
"Whatever. I have to get in there and help Gaara, you know?"
"Hey, cool it," Temari said. "I want to help Gaara as much as you, but we don't know what we're up against in there. I'm not about to jump the gun at Gaara's expense."
"Temari's right," Sasori said. "You got Baki's intel on the bomber, right?"
"Yeah," Kakashi said. "Deidara, I've heard of him."
"There's another one, but he didn't attack directly, or so I'm told."
"He'll be the one to look out for," the old woman said. She didn't avert her gaze from the rock. "The ones who like to watch always are."
Sakura watched the exchange in silence, thinking. Once they got into that cave, the fighting would start. She'd never faced Akatsuki before, and she was only a Chuunin. Her palms began to sweat under her gloves at the thought of facing that kind of power. She remembered what Itachi had done to Sasuke and Naruto three years ago. Who was to say could she fare any better even after three years of training with Tsunade?
"In any case, we can't do anything as long as the entrance is blocked," Sasori said.
"I think Sakura can help us with that," Kakashi said.
All eyes suddenly turned to Sakura, and she swallowed. Temari and the old woman looked skeptical at best considering the last time Sakura had seen Temari was back when she had almost none of her current abilities and knowledge. But Sasori's stare was empty and cold despite the sleepy warmth in his eyes.
"What can she do?" he asked.
"I can get us inside," Sakura said before Kakashi had a chance to answer for her.
Temari led the old woman away from the boulder, and Kakashi told Naruto to stand back. Sasori stepped aside after a moment's hesitation. Sakura couldn't explain it, but something about the way he lingered made her blood boil, like he couldn't believe her even if he wanted to.
"You're my student. I trained you to survive, but I also trained you to win."
Sakura cracked her knuckles as she studied the size and shape of the boulder blocking their path. It truly was colossal, probably as thick as a whole house. She would have to get the angle just right. Eyes were heavy on her profile as she stepped into position. Tsunade's words of encouragement echoed in her mind, and she concentrated on them to ignore the feeling of bugs crawling up her back under her teammates' stares.
She exhaled, pulled her fist back and lunged into a sprint. With a battlecry that could wake the dead, she jammed her glowing fist into the side of the boulder with all her might. The stone gave under her strength before exploding into a million spider cracks from the point of contact outward and inward. She pulled away just as she felt the stone begin to cave, and just in time. In one thunderous explosion, the boulder shattered and chunks of rock toppled to the earth. The tiny tributaries crisscrossing the ravine splashed as falling debris rained down like hail. In moments, all that was left where the giant boulder had once stood was darkness.
"Thanks, Sakura," Kakashi said as he preemptively ran after Naruto to block him from charging in.
Sakura nodded. Temari passed her with the old woman, who appraised her briefly with a grunt of satisfaction before disappearing inside.
"And you call yourself a woman with that monstrous strength?"
Sakura bristled before she could control herself and glared up at the Kazekage, who watched her with that same, vacuous stare.
"I'll be sure to pass along your compliment to my mentor, Lady Tsunade."
Sasori seemed to consider this a moment, but just when Sakura thought he might recant his earlier rudeness, he merely turned away from her and walked into the cave.
Sakura trailed after him, not wanting to be left behind. Her heeled boots clicked and clacked upon the damp, stone floor. The cavern's ceiling had to be at least a hundred feet high. She glared at the blue wind kanji emblazoned upon Sasori's back. If he were anyone else she would show him a piece of her mind.
"Ahahahahahaha!"
Laughter bounced off the walls, amplified and drawn out by the acoustics of this place. A spike of dread cut through Sakura's heart, and she ran ahead of Sasori to join the others.
"The one who charges in first! That's the one, Deidara-senpai!" said the masked Akatsuki.
Deidara sat on Gaara's unmoving body trembling with the force of his cachinnations. Kakashi was busy restraining Naruto and having trouble, from the looks of it.
"You piece of shit! Don't laugh at a time like this!" Naruto snarled.
"We were too late," the old woman said softly to Temari.
Sakura's hands shook. She couldn't tear her eyes from Gaara's still body.
"Gaara, c'mon, get up! You can't sleep right now, we gotta take these guys out together!" Naruto said.
"Naruto," Kakashi warned.
Sakura's eyes watered with tears. Gaara...
"Sleep?" Deidara looked like he was going to burst out laughing again. With his remaining hand he tapped Gaara's cheek. "Are you blind or just a fuckin' moron? This guy's D-E-A-D, yeah."
"Ooh, Senpai, I think you made him M-A-D!" the masked Akatsuki said.
Naruto was shaking with fury. Traces of the Kyuubi began to manifest as his eyes burned red and his nails grew to sharp points.
Deidara shoved off of Gaara and rummaged around his pocket for something. In moments, he'd somehow created a white, clay bird large enough for several people to mount and hopped on its back.
"This is fun. Hey, Tobi, don't be angry, but I'm gonna catch this Jinchuuriki, too. You can get the next one."
Tobi clapped. "Go, go, go! Tobi will wait here!"
Temari stepped forward, but a hand on her shoulder yanked her back. She shot a venomous glare at Sasori, but he barely blinked at her unshed tears.
"Compose yourself," he said.
"On second thought," Deidara said. The bird uncurled its tail and scooped up Gaara's corpse.
"If you attempt to fly out of here, I'll make your death more excruciating than you can possibly imagine," Sasori said.
Deidara paused and locked eyes with Sasori. He broke out into a wide grin. "I dunno, my imagination's a scary place. But I doubt a dried up has-been like you could handle it, yeah."
The bird's tail curled back up and secured Gaara firmly in place. Deidara took off into the air and made to fly out of the cave. Sasori waved a hand and translucent chakra strings shot forth to stop him. But just as they were about to make contact, the space just in front of them began to warp, like water, and created a vortex that sucked them up. Deidara escaped, and Sasori swore.
"Catch me if you can, Jinchuuriki!" he called back.
What the hell? Sakura thought as the vortex faded and Sasori retracted his strings.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's cheating."
Tobi had his hands in his pockets as he slumped, almost lazy. But what really caught Sakura by surprise was the lilt in his voice. It was different, like he himself was different somehow.
"You..." Kakashi said. "Who are you?"
"No one you need concern yourself with. That is, as long as you hand over the Jinchuuriki."
"Bastard! Wait up!" Naruto said as he began to dash out of the cave.
Sasori reached out with his strings again and caught Naruto. He yanked him back hard enough to send Naruto falling. Sakura ran to help him up.
"I don't think so," Sasori said. "Deidara's mine. Chiyo-baa, stay here and help Kakashi with this one. He'll need it."
"Gee, thanks for thinking of me," Kakashi said.
"Fine. I'm tired of running, anyway," Chiyo said.
"Temari, you're with me."
"Gladly," Temari said.
"I'm going, too," Naruto said. Sakura helped him stand back up.
"No, I want the girl."
Sakura turned back and found Sasori staring right at her. "Me?"
"She's still a Chuunin," Kakashi said, never taking his eyes off the masked Akatsuki.
"Is that supposed to mean something? Let's go, we've wasted enough time as it is."
Sasori pulled back on the strings still holding Naruto and sent him tumbling back into the cave, where he landed near Kakashi.
"Ow!"
"Naruto, get up. He's our opponent," Kakashi said.
Tobi chuckled. "Opponent implies that we're on the same level. And I assure you, Kakashi, we're not."
"Sasori," Chiyo said. "Be careful."
Sasori ignored her and made his way back outside. Temari jogged after him, and Sakura had no choice but to follow. The sunlight blinded her after the sweeping darkness of the cave, and she blinked to clear her eyes. Deidara was hovering in the sky a short distance away and headed for the chasm she had crossed on the way here.
"He's gonna try to lose us over the river," Temari growled.
Sasori produced a scroll from his sleeve and released it. When the smoke cleared, a human puppet floated next to him with yellow eyes so lifelike Sakura almost thought they were real.
"He won't."
"Um, Kazekage-sama, we can't fly," Sakura said.
Sasori fluttered his fingers and a grainy, black substance began to pour out of his puppet's mouth. Honey eyes flickered to hers. "You can't, but I can." Within seconds, Sasori had produced several three-dimensional blocks that looked solid enough. They floated just above the ground, and he jumped on top of one. "And don't call me that. I don't need a title to know I'm the strongest shinobi in the country."
Temari followed his lead and held out a hand to Sakura before she could say anything to that.
"Come on, just don't lose your balance."
Sakura accepted the hand up and soon found herself wobbling on top of a hovering block of iron sand. Sasori didn't wait for her to get comfortable, and soon they were zipping through the air.
"Whoa!"
Sakura lost her balance and stumbled to her hands and knees. Her chakra glued her to the uneven surface just in time, and she attempted to pull herself back up.
"You'll get used to it!" Temari called from her right.
Sasori flew just behind them, where he controlled both his puppet and the numerous blocks and spikes of gravity-defying iron sand.
"Right..."
Deidara noticed their chase and picked up speed. Sakura thought she could hear him laughing, but it was lost in the wind. She held her hands out to steady herself, slowly getting the hang of how the blocks undulated against the wind current.
Temari unlatched her fan from its holster across her back and unfolded it. "We have to get closer! My justu won't hit him this far away!"
"Closer? You actually think we can catch up to him like this?" Sakura said.
"Your job is to heal Gaara when we catch that lunatic, so try not to die so easily. Until then, hang on," Sasori said.
"How'd you know I was a medic? And if he's dead, I can't—"
"I didn't ask your opinion, girl. Hold on!"
His warning was a little too late, and Sakura lost her balance again as they sped forward. Deidara flew some distance ahead, closer but still not within reach. Nevertheless, Temari swung her giant fan and unleashed a devastating razor wind attack that cut up the sides of the chasm in its wake. Ahead, Deidara's cruising line faltered, but he avoided the attack completely.
"Damnit!" Temari swore. "We have to get closer!"
"Hey, how's the wind back there?" Deidara shouted back to them.
He threw something at them, and Sakura squinted to see better. She heard them before she could make them out, little buzzing noises like a swarm of bees.
"Temari!" Sasori shouted.
A gust of wind hit Sakura hard in the chest and sent her flying just as one of the tiny clay birds collided with the iron sand platform she'd been perched on just seconds ago. It blew up before her eyes, and Sakura stared in horror as she fell.
An unseen force jerked her in midair and altered her trajectory. It was so strong that it yanked her left shoulder clean out of its socket. She landed on said shoulder hard and cried out. An explosion of pain and color and sound flooded her consciousness, and she blacked out for a moment.
"Pay attention!"
Sasori's voice rang out through the cacophony, and Sakura remembered where she was. Afraid she was still falling to her death, she jolted awake and rolled over onto her good shoulder. She was lying atop another iron block below Temari, who was busy slashing the air with her fan to divert more of Deidara's bombs from hitting their party. Shimmering chakra strings detached from Sakura as she came to, and she realized Sasori must have caught her fall. There was no time to idle when her ride lurched again and nearly sent her catapulting into the chasm wall.
This was an unmitigated disaster. The fight was five minutes deep and she was already down for the count. Even twelve-year-old Sasuke and Naruto had lasted longer against Akatsuki—two of them, not just one.
"Don't fight it!" Deidara shouted back at them. "My art's a blast, yeah!"
"Damn cretin. He calls a few bottle rockets art?" Sasori spat.
"Look out!" Temari said.
Sakura hissed and rolled off the side of her iron block to avoid yet another explosive collision. She landed in a crouched position on a rounded iron platform below. The battle continued to rage above. Deidara's distance and long-range technique gave him the only advantage he needed, and it showed. They couldn't catch him like this.
"Next time, it'll be your turn to watch my back. I'll get stronger, that's my promise."
She gritted her teeth and took a calming breath, then popped her shoulder back into place. The movement sent a debilitating pain through her body, and she cried out. But it passed in a matter of seconds as her medical chakra automatically eased the pain and healed the hurt.
"Okay," she said aloud. "Okay."
There had to be a way out of this. Just because Deidara had the environmental advantage didn't mean he had this in the bag. Sasori was a Kage—he could probably outmatch Deidara on his own under normal circumstances, she reasoned. Plus he had Temari, who was doing a decent job of deflecting those bombs. And Sakura had her strength that could best even ten-ton boulders.
That's it!
"Sasori!" she shouted.
But the wind drowned her out, and Sasori and Temari continued to fend off Deidara's bombs above her.
Guess I'm on my own.
Sakura looked around at the various blocks and spikes racing along beside her. Deidara maintained his distance and height, and she had to squint to see him through the glaring sunlight above. Trusting her instincts, Sakura ran to the end of the block on which she was standing and leaped with the aid of chakra. She soared through the air and landed on another block. The landing took the wind out of her, but she recovered quickly and ran forward again.
"Sakura!" Temari called out.
But Sakura ignored her as she kept an eye on Deidara and mapped out the angle she would need to make this work. A lone iron spike at the head of the flock floated just ahead. Summoning chakra to her feet and fists, she leaped again and rammed the back end of the spike with her glowing fist. Her theory proved right, and the iron held fast under her strength. Her punch sent it hurtling forward at incredible speed straight for Deidara.
Bombs grazed it as it flew and slowed it down a little, but they didn't stop it. Deidara noticed what was happening and tried to maneuver out of the way. He was just a little too late, though, and the spike slashed the side of his bird and threw him off course.
Sakura landed on another iron block and couldn't help the smile at the sight of Deidara faltering. "Hell yeah!" she whooped.
Behind her, Sasori stared at the damage she'd wrought with wide eyes, but he said nothing.
"Are you crazy?" Temari said. "You could've fallen to your death just now!"
Sakura grinned back at her. "You said I'd get the hang of it!"
Temari shook her head and bit back a grin despite their grim circumstances.
Deidara had recovered and was no longer laughing. He'd somehow managed to repair most of the damage done to his bird and was back on course revving up another wave of bombs.
"Nice trick, but I'm done playing around, yeah!"
The sand shifted under Sakura's feet, and her block zoomed to the right. She found herself floating next to Sasori as he rearranged the blocks and spikes flying ahead of them. Temari readied her fan.
"Temari, stop those bombs," Sasori said.
"On it!"
"And you," he said, turning to Sakura. "You missed."
Sakura smirked up at him, the rush of battle fueling her adrenaline high. "Next time, I won't."
Deidara stooped low to mold another batch of his avian bombs. Incendiary this time, he decided.
"Let's see Fan Girl blow these babies away, yeah," he muttered to himself.
As always, he directed his bird to swoop higher and kick up a tailwind that would carry his bombs. But just as he was getting into position he was forced to veer left to avoid an iron spike that slashed the air where he would have been if he hadn't seen it coming. It grazed the bird's wing, and Deidara stumbled to maintain his balance.
"What the fuck!"
He glared back at his pursuers. That Konoha girl wasn't letting up at all. She landed on another floating block to recover from the last attack and watched him, waiting for something as she planned her next assault.
"You gotta be kidding me," Deidara said. "She's reading my movements?"
Testing his theory, Deidara once more prepared to launch his bombs. And the pink-haired girl was ready with another homing spike aimed straight for his intended trajectory. Deidara forced his bird to dive to avoid it and released the bombs he'd been holding. They ignited on the river's surface below and fizzled into steam.
"Oops." He glared at Gaara's cracked face. "Dude, for the record, you're way more trouble than you're worth, yeah."
Sakura never stayed on one iron sand block for long. Temari's artificial winds were as sharp as any blade, and if she lingered she could get caught up in the crosshairs again. But she kept an eye on Deidara as she jumped, waiting for him to make his move. He must have picked up on the fact that she was learning his patterns, because he began to improvise and move more erratically.
"Nice try," she said.
Iron sand blocks floated into place to give her footholds, and she powered up another super punch. The spike she sent was soon joined by another and another, and Deidara had to split his focus between molding more bombs and not getting shot out of the sky.
"Cut that out!" he yelled.
Bombs zipped toward Sakura, their target now singularly focused. Temari couldn't get every bomb that whizzed by, and Deidara could control the exact moment of detonation. She suffered burns when she was just a little too early, and Sasori couldn't pull her free in time. He sent the iron blocks twisting through the chasm to throw off the bombs, and unfortunately Sakura had to hang on for the ride.
"You guys're really pissin' me off now," Deidara said.
"I'm tired of this," Sasori said. "Sakura, ground him!"
Sakura picked herself up and wiped the blood from her lips. She took off again and leaped through the air with renewed energy. Temari, despite her injuries, cut in front of her just in time to slice more incoming bombs with her wind. They exploded and blinded Sakura momentarily, but Sasori's strings lifted her above Temari's head. Deidara was closer than he'd ever been, and she just needed to land one punch. The elevated arc Sasori's strings carried her in lowered her toward a nearby spike, and she slammed into it with her foot.
The spike shot through the air at top speed, and Sakura crash landed on an iron block below it ungracefully. Her hands and feet ached from all the contact with the hardened iron, but her efforts paid off when the spike hit its target clean and true. Deidara fell off his bird, which now had an enormous spike impaled in its abdomen. The two of them crashed through the trees and landed somewhere out of sight, Gaara with them.
The iron sand shifted again, this time without forewarning, and Sakura could only hang on for dear life. Solid ground rushed to meet her, and soon she was stumbling on the grass trying not to vomit from the vertigo. Temari panted beside her and clutched her side.
"Temari, let me heal that," Sakura said.
"I'm fine. We have to get to Gaara."
The iron sand had disappeared back into Sasori's puppet, and he brushed past the two kunoichi. "Don't fall behind."
Temari didn't question him, so Sakura bit back the retort on the tip of her tongue and jogged to keep up. Sasori wasn't kidding about his threat to make Deidara's death unimaginably painful, apparently. When Sakura caught up to him, he was already pummeling him.
"Whoa, hey, can't we talk about this?" Deidara said as he deftly avoided another iron sand spear.
Sasori said nothing as he continued his silent rampage. With only one arm, Deidara didn't even try to fight back and merely concentrated on avoiding Sasori's iron sand.
"We should help him," Sakura said.
Temari held out her arm. "No. He won't want our help. I'm going to find Gaara."
Deidara was incredibly nimble, Sakura had to give him credit, but the iron sand mixed with the earth and shot up from under him. Soon, Deidara was pinned to the ground and at Sasori's mercy. Sharp spikes skewered his limbs, and he spat blood.
"Well, this is awkward, yeah."
Sasori bared his teeth. "I'll enjoy killing you, whelp. I think I'll turn you into a puppet once the poison does its work."
"Ew, no way I'll be one of your crusty old puppets. I'm goin' out with a bang."
"We'll see about that."
The spikes holding him in place dug deeper and drew more blood. But instead of screaming in pain, Deidara broke out into a stupid grin. It was only then that Sasori noticed how his hands were digging into the churned earth. "Boom."
Sakura didn't have time to scream. The ground exploded underneath her and sent her flying into a nearby tree. The collision caused her to black out again as the ringing in her ears became the only thing on which she could concentrate. The ground rumbled beneath her feet, like it was moving. Slumped and hurting, Sakura focused on the ringing and tried to follow it back to the surface of consciousness.
The smell was the first thing she noticed, like putrid flesh. Her arms were burned to the muscle, as were her thighs. The pain came next, and she cried out. Her healing chakra was already soothing the sting and mending the damage, though. Despite her queasiness and the aching in her head, she forced her eyes open and searched around.
"Sasori?" she said weakly as she struggled to stand.
Her chakra worked fast, and soon her burns were nothing more than tender, red sores on new skin. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, but smoke concealed most of her surroundings. Deidara was nowhere in sight.
"Sasori?"
Movement caught her eye through the gloom, and she cautiously moved to investigate. Entangled in a mess of debris and tree limbs, Sasori struggled to stand.
"Sasori!"
Sakura rushed to help him and pulled the thicker branches off of him. His puppet lay nearby looking worse for wear.
"I'm fine."
He wasn't fine. His arm was broken and the bone had pierced the flesh at the bicep.
"Let me heal that."
"Deidara's still—"
"You can't fight him with your arm falling off."
"It would even the odds."
He gripped his ruined arm and jiggled it around, to her horror.
"What are you—!"
Sasori yanked his arm clean off at the socket and shook it out of his sleeve. Sakura thought she might throw up until she noticed that it wasn't an arm at all.
"A wooden arm? But how—why did you...?"
"Shukaku. It did me a favor, in the end. Now get up and move."
He got to his feet with some effort, and Sakura recovered from her initial shock. His shirt was damp at his side where something had torn into him.
"Wait, you're bleeding—"
"I'll live. Stop doing such pointless things and worry about the mission."
He was already stalking off and collecting his puppet when Sakura got to her feet. He didn't wait for her, but she wasn't about to be left behind.
"Go to hell!"
Temari's cry drove Sasori to action, and he sprinted deeper into the forest. Sakura was hot on his heels and almost tripped over Gaara's body when she caught up to Temari, who was busy trying to flush Deidara out of the brush.
"Hey now, no need for foul language, yeah!"
Temari swung her fan and sliced half a mile of trees in half, but Deidara was not among them. He materialized suddenly behind her with a kunai aimed at her back.
"Die, bitch."
Temari whirled and caught his kunai just in time with the hilt of her fan. Sakura saw the fear in her eyes as she came face to face with Deidara with nothing to separate them and felt it herself. Sasori held no such reservations, though, and commanded his puppet.
"Satetsu Kaihou."
Hundreds of spikes materialized from the floating iron sand and pierced the air, the trees, and the ground. Sakura had the good sense to jump back and get out of its way, and Sasori pulled Temari to safety with his strings. Deidara, however, got caught up in the middle of it. The jutsu churned up dust and debris from the forest floor, and soon it became hard to breathe, let alone see. Sakura coughed and hauled Gaara's body backward with her to safety, just in case.
But when the dust settled, there was no blond Akatsuki to be found.
"Impossible," Sasori said. "No one can escape Satetsu Kaihou."
The air near Sakura began to swirl like it had in the cave, and she instinctively backed away from it. Tobi stepped out from its center with Deidara's remaining arm slung over his shoulder. His mask was cracked around his right eye, and it glowed with the Sharingan. Sakura gasped at the sight.
"I happen to be in the business of 'impossible'," he said.
"I'm not finished with that," Sasori said.
Tobi chuckled. "And I'm not finished with you, Akasuna no Sasori. We'll meet again."
Deidara grinned, and his teeth were red with blood. The vortex swallowed them up whole, and soon there was no trace of them left. The iron sand collapsed and returned to the puppet, and silence reigned as though nothing had been amiss.
"Gaara," Temari said.
Sakura kneeled down and assessed him with her chakra. She bit her lip and swallowed the knot in her throat. "I'm sorry. He... He's gone."
Temari sank down across from her and leaned over Gaara, shaking. Her tears fell freely. "No, Gaara, you can't die. Oh god, please no!"
Sasori stood very still a short distance away. "Is there nothing you can do?"
Sakura caught his gaze, unreadable. "No. I'm so sorry."
He just stood there like he didn't know what to do with himself. The fight was over, the threat gone, and all he could do was stand there. He blinked slowly and took in a shaky breath. Sakura's eyes widened, but just as she got to her feet, he collapsed to his knees.
"Sasori!"
She was at his side in an instant and assessing the damage. The blood she'd seen on him earlier was still flowing freely.
"Oh my god," Sakura said. "Hang on."
Her chakra worked fast, but he'd stressed the wound by continuing to fight like nothing was wrong. His face was etiolated and clammy, and he'd lost a lot of blood.
"I failed him," he whispered.
His eyes were dilated and unfocused. How had she not noticed it before?
"No, it wasn't your fault," Sakura said automatically as she worked frantically to fix him.
Punctured artery. How the hell is he still breathing?
"I wasn't there... Left him in charge."
"Keep talking, you'll be okay," Sakura said as she tried to control her emotions and focus on not seeing another person die today.
"It's all my fault."
She had stopped the bleeding and sealed the severed vein, but there was still significant damage to the surrounding tissue. Seconds were precious, and he could go into cardiac arrest if she didn't get his blood count back up.
"It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault," she said.
He chuckled and leaned his weight into her. "Words mean nothing."
Sakura was too focused on replenishing his lost blood to argue with him. Temari had noticed what was happening and watched.
"Sakura? He's okay, right?"
Seconds became minutes as Sakura slowly brought him back from delirium and the brink of death. Her fingers ached as though someone had dug needles into her nail beds. But eventually, Sasori blinked to focus his sight. His eyes were no longer dilated, and his breathing was steadier. Sakura could have collapsed right there.
"Yeah," she said shakily. "He's okay."
Kakashi, Chiyo, and Naruto arrived then and gathered around Gaara's body. Naruto was distraught while Kakashi and Chiyo looked on.
"No," Naruto said through his tears. "Gaara, you can't die on me, buddy. You just can't."
Sakura's heart ached watching Naruto's pain. Beside her, Sasori let out a heavy breath.
"What a waste," he said. "What a fucking waste."
"Hey," she said, unsure what to say to him.
He turned to her and held her gaze, sad and exhausted and just...so empty. Like it was too much even to feel what was happening in this moment.
"Naruto, you really love Gaara, don't you?" Chiyo said.
Naruto shuddered as he wept. "Like a brother."
Chiyo smiled and kneeled down beside him. "I see."
She held out her hands over Gaara's body, and they began to glow white. The light drew Sakura's and Sasori's attention, and they watched.
"Chiyo-baa," Sasori said. "He's dead. Medical ninjutsu can't bring him back."
"I know, but this isn't medical ninjutsu. I developed this technique specifically for the dead. It should work on him."
"What?" Naruto perked up. "You mean you can bring him back? You can really do that?"
Chiyo nodded. "I never trusted you Jinchuuriki. But...since I'm responsible for Gaara being a Jinchuuriki, it's only fair that I give him back the life I stole."
"What the hell're you babbling about?" Sasori said. "Stop this. Even you can't revive the dead."
"You know, Sasori, I always felt bad about what happened to your parents. You were so young, and I wasn't enough. Well, I'm not your mother, after all."
"Enough. That has nothing to do with anything."
"So I developed this technique for you," she went on, ignoring him. "I wanted to give you back what...what Konoha's White Fang stole from you."
Kakashi shifted behind her but said nothing.
Sakura watched, incredulous, as Gaara began to stir. Chiyo's eyes began to droop.
Sasori clenched his fists and glared at Chiyo. "Why? Why would you even bother? What could you possibly have hoped to accomplish?"
"Gaara," Temari said through her tears. "Gaara, can you hear me?"
Chiyo smiled. Some of her teeth were missing and she was bruised from the fight she'd had with Tobi, but there was something indescribably beautiful about it. "Because I didn't want you to be alone anymore."
Gaara groaned and slowly opened his eyes just as Chiyo used up the last of her energy and slumped over.
"Gaara!" Naruto said.
Temari brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "Hey, Gaara?"
Sakura watched in awe as Gaara, good as new, struggled to sit up on his elbows.
"Temari?" he asked. "Naruto? What're you doing here?"
Naruto's face was tear-streaked and dirty with blood and sweat, but his smile was as bright and brilliant as ever as he tackled Gaara in a hug. "You're okay!"
A bewildered Gaara could only stare open-mouthed at all the people gathered around him in various states of tears and joy. But as elated as Sakura was for Naruto and for Gaara, she couldn't ignore the cold, still presence beside her and the old woman slumped to the side who wasn't getting up.
Sasori's gaze was heavy on Chiyo's form, but he didn't go to her. A part of Sakura wanted to go to Naruto and rejoice that they had succeeded in their mission. It was truly a miracle that Gaara was alive. Instead, she reached for Sasori's hand for comfort, though his or hers she couldn't say.
But there was nothing there but an empty sleeve, and he didn't feel her touch.
The journey back to Suna was generally a merry one despite the scorching desert heat. Naruto animatedly recounted all the tales of his solo training to Gaara's attentive ear. The trip was a short one, and while Sakura was relieved that Gaara was okay, the loss of Chiyo hit her harder than she would have expected. To give one's life for another, no matter how old, had to be the most difficult thing in the world.
"Sasori, who did you leave in charge when you came to get me?" Gaara asked as they arrived at the gates.
"Baki."
"Oh, not Kankuro?" Kakashi asked.
"No," Sasori and Temari said in unison.
Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. "I can see the bond between a teacher and his former students burns strong and bright."
"Shut up, Kakashi."
Sakura smiled a little at the exchange, but her eyes lingered on Sasori's empty sleeve. He'd stored Chiyo's body in a scroll until they arrived back in Suna, presumably for a burial service. But he hadn't said a word about it the entire trip back, and she didn't think it was her place to ask. She barely knew the guy.
"Oooooiiii!"
Someone called to the group as they neared Suna's gates. Kankuro was waving down at them from the top of the sandstone wall.
"Little bro!"
Gaara looked a little surprised to be singled out, but he smiled and waved back. Kankuro laughed and disappeared from view. A few minutes later the gates opened to admit the group, and Kankuro came running out. He ran right into Gaara and spun him around in a massive hug.
"Man, am I glad to see you!"
"I'm fine," Gaara said.
Kankuro put him down. "Well good, you better be. 'Cause if you ever scare me like that again I'll kill you myself."
Temari slung an arm each around her brothers' shoulders and dragged them toward the gates. "Come on, boys."
Sasori regarded the Konoha shinobi when they paused at the gate. "You'll be staying the night to recover."
"Actually, the Hokage wanted a report on the Akatsuki right away," Kakashi began.
"That wasn't a request." He paused to look Kakashi over. "Besides, your hair looks like something died in it. Go clean up, and I'll send for you later."
Sakura caught Sasori's eye as he turned to leave, but he said nothing further.
"So, I guess Sasori's used to bossing you around," Sakura said.
"Old habit," Kakashi said with a smile. "By the way, Sakura, I take it your battle went well?"
"Except they both got away," Naruto said. "Next time, I'll get 'em, you know?"
"Yeah," Sakura said. "Next time, for sure."
They ended up staying for three days. Kakashi's injuries were worse than he'd let on after having used a new power, according to Naruto. Sakura spent a lot of her time in Suna's hospital working on him while Naruto had time to catch up with Gaara. After everything that remained outstanding with Sasuke, Sakura couldn't help but enjoy watching Naruto interact with Gaara. It was nice to know he had a best friend that planned on sticking around.
Chiyo's funeral was held the morning after their return to Suna, and to Sakura's surprise, Sasori was not in attendance. No one at the ceremony mentioned anything about it, but she couldn't help but wonder what he could possibly have going on that was more important than his own grandmother's funeral.
That day dragged on and on as Sakura first worked on Kakashi in the hospital and then offered to help a Suna medic with his own patient. Someone had come in badly poisoned from a mission, and the medics were stumped as to the antidote. Thanks to Shizune's teachings, however, Sakura knew her fair share of poisons and how to counteract them, so crafting an antidote was no great feat for her. As happy as she was to help, that little stunt ended up opening the floodgates. More medics and nurses sought her out and asked for her help, her opinion, anything they could learn from her. It wasn't every day that an apprentice to the greatest medical ninja alive was in their midst, after all. By the time Sakura got out of there, it was nearly midnight.
The night was chilly and she longed for a hot bath, so she made her way back to the apartment where she and Naruto were staying. The cemetery was on her way, and even though she'd attended the funeral this morning, she had the urge to visit Chiyo's grave again. Unlike the memorial stone in Konoha, Suna buried its shinobi with individual grave markers, which necessitated a large area set aside for them. She wandered among the headstones, lost in thought, but when she arrived at Chiyo's marker, someone was already there.
"Sasori?"
He had no torch with him, so only the moon revealed his features to her.
"What're you doing here?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same thing. You weren't at the service this morning."
"That's none of your business."
Sakura took a calming breath. Something about him just pissed her off, like he exuded something noxious. But the events of the previous day kept her there, and she drew up next to him.
"Well, I'm sure she appreciates you being here now."
"She's dead. The only thing she can appreciate now are the worms eating her eyeballs as we speak."
Sakura frowned. "How can you say that? She was your grandmother."
"You really love those useless words, don't you?"
"They're not useless, they're the truth."
Sasori faced her fully, and Sakura leaned back on instinct. "Really, now? What do you think you know?"
If he wasn't the Kazekage, Sakura was sure she would have been very afraid of him right now. Something about Sasori was cruel and twisted, but she couldn't place exactly what. It was in his eyes that almost glowed with mellow softness, but projected a chill so sharp and mean he could never get close to anything without freezing it.
"Just what she said. That she didn't want you to be alone anymore."
Sasori chuckled softly, the mellifluous timbre so out of place with his dangerous aura. "You're one hell of a girl, but I wonder what you think you can accomplish like this."
Sakura's neck and cheeks flared with warmth at the sudden praise.
"Do you know why people lie?" Sasori went on. "They lie because it's easy. All those stories you heard growing up about Prince Charming and fairy godmothers and dreams coming true were so easy to believe. I bet a pretty girl like you ate that up, didn't you?"
"I..."
"So what happens when the one you're waiting for never comes back? When there's no happy ending? Do you still lie to yourself and hope for something impossible?"
Sakura's eyes fell as she thought about Sasuke. Three years he'd been gone, and she and Naruto had been waiting for him all this time. What if he never came back? Why did he even leave?
"I don't know," she said.
"But I do. And I'm tired of waiting."
He turned to leave, but Sakura was not about to let him.
"What's wrong with you? How can you just walk away like nothing happened?"
"Because nothing did happen. I feel nothing. In fact, it all worked out perfectly. Gaara's safe just as I intended, and she's finally dead just as she intended. Everything's as it should be."
Sakura shook with an anger she could not name.
"You're running," Sakura said. "You're afraid. You couldn't even come to her funeral this morning. Not because you didn't want to, but because you couldn't bear it."
Sasori turned to look at her over his shoulder, a warning in his eyes. "Be careful how you speak to me, Sakura."
Maybe it was the long day at the hospital that had peeled away her inhibitions for the night, but Sakura wasn't backing off now.
"She didn't want you to be alone anymore. But now you really are alone, and that terrifies you, doesn't it? She was all you had left even if you don't want to admit it. That's why you came tonight."
Sasori slowly turned to face her again. "You're mistaken. What I felt for that old hag is the same thing I feel for anyone stupid enough to get in my way. I don't have a use for broken things."
Sakura could hardly think straight anymore as her emotions got the better of her. "How can you treat people like that? She was a person, your grandmother. Not like one of your puppets you can just throw away whenever you feel like it! What the hell do you think a human life is? What family is?"
His gaze was heavy and somewhere else, like he wasn't seeing her but someone else, someone far away. "It doesn't matter what I think. Things are much simpler this way."
Dead.
Like he'd never lived a day in his life. That was what she saw in his pretty eyes, and she couldn't unsee it.
"What happened to you to turn you into this? Why is that the only way you can see the world?"
Sasori looked up at her like he forgot she was there, but he said nothing. The cold was getting to Sakura, and she was at her limit emotionally and physically for the day. Sensing that Sasori wasn't going to budge or offer any further explanation, and that she wasn't exactly in a position to demand one, she shuffled past him and made a hasty retreat back to her temporary living quarters.
Sasori watched her go, deep in thought.
"It's the only way I know how."
But the ghosts that haunted this place swallowed his words before they could reach unwilling ears.
Three days in the hospital was seriously pushing it by Kakashi's standards, and he was eager to get back to Konoha where he knew all the hospital fire escape routes by heart for flexible check-out. Sakura and Naruto were saying their goodbyes to the Sand Siblings and packing up the rest of their things while he was happily back in his uniform and finishing up a message to the Hokage about their impending return to Konoha.
A knock on his hospital door revealed Sasori, who didn't wait to be admitted, as usual.
"Hey, you got your arm replaced," Kakashi commented.
"And I see they got the smell of old roadkill out of your hair. What a relief."
"All good things to those who wait, as they say."
Sasori glowered at him, but Kakashi just returned to his letter.
"I'll send a Jōnin team to escort you back to Konoha," Sasori said.
"No need. I doubt we'll be running into Akatsuki again anytime soon after the beating Deidara and Tobi took."
"Kakashi—"
"Besides, I've got my two favorite former students to protect me. I appreciate your concern all the same."
There was a pause, and Kakashi silently congratulated himself for getting the last word.
"It's a good thing they're with you. From what I've seen, you could stand to learn a thing or two from them."
Ah, wishful thinking.
Kakashi sealed up his letter and tied it to the messenger hawk that had been brought in for him. He then set it loose through the open window and watched it fly west toward Konoha. "You think so?"
"Sakura was useful against Deidara."
"Ah, yes. She's the only medic I trust. You were in good hands."
"She's the reason we caught Deidara at all."
Kakashi turned to face his long-time friend, and Sasori was watching him carefully. "That so?"
"She said the Hokage trained her."
"Yeah, while Naruto was away with Jiraiya, Sakura trained under Tsunade. Why?"
A nurse knocked on the door to let Kakashi know that Sakura and Naruto had arrived and were ready to leave and waiting for him.
"Well, I guess that's my cue," Kakashi said. "Thanks for everything."
Sasori pushed off from his perch on the wall and headed to the door. "She's strong, Kakashi. And you're wasting your time fumbling around trying to figure that out. Only death comes to those who wait."
He left without another word, leaving a bewildered Kakashi alone in an empty hospital room.
Kakashi chuckled to himself. "Well, I'll be damned."
Konoha was just as Sakura had left it a week ago, but somehow it felt like she'd been gone longer than that. With Naruto back, life was louder and generally busier, but she liked it like that. Leaving Suna wasn't the ceremonious departure she'd imagined it would be. The Sand Siblings bid them farewell and Gaara thanked them again for all their help. That was it. Sasori hadn't shown up to see them off, though Sakura reasoned that he was the Kazekage and thus very busy.
It bothered her more that she'd even had the thought.
I'll probably never see him again, and it's none of my business. Who cares?
This was her thought as she approached Tsunade's office to respond to a summons. The Hokage admitted her while she shuffled through a mountain of paperwork she'd probably neglected for days judging from the sheer amount of it.
"Ah, Sakura! There are you."
"You wanted to see me?" Sakura approached the desk.
"Yes. Pack your things. I want you gone by morning."
"Um, what?"
Tsunade looked up from her desk with a scowl, like all this paperwork had some nerve being here and messing up her day. "You heard me. Pack your things. You're going on a mission."
Sakura perked up a bit. "A solo mission? But I'm a Chuunin. Not that I'm complaining—"
"It's an extended mission. You'll be a medical envoy in charge of all training and knowledge transfer until further notice."
"Oh, but isn't that Shizune's role? She's usually the one who visits the other villages to train their medics."
"Well, this time you were specifically requested. And since I have nothing more to teach you, I can't think of a reason to say no to him."
"'Him'?"
Tsunade smiled. "The Kazekage. He had nothing but good things to say about your performance against the Akatsuki. That man is the most unpleasant prick I've had to deal with in a long time, so you can understand why I'm taking his opinion seriously."
Sakura could not believe her ears. "Sasori?!"
"Of course, Sasori. And watch how you address him, he's a Kage and he deserves a certain level of respect."
Words escaped Sakura as she stared open-mouthed like a fish out of water. Tsunade leaned her chin on an elbow and smirked. "I'm proud of you, Sakura. Whatever you did to that Akatsuki must have been pretty incredible."
"Lady Tsunade..." Warmth swelled in Sakura's chest at the praise. Pride made her feel light on the balls of her feet.
"Now what the hell are you still doing in my office? Get moving!"
Tsunade all but chased Sakura out of the office and slammed the door behind her. Sakura stood in the hallway too stunned to move as she processed the information. She'd only gotten back to Konoha two days ago, and now he was summoning her for this mission? What was he thinking? Why her? Nothing made any sense. The last time she'd seen him, he'd made it very clear just what he thought about all her poking and prodding into his personal life.
"Things are much simpler this way."
There was something terrible about Sasori, something insidious, like a slow acting poison whose effects didn't manifest until there was no turning back. It was so easy to dislike him that under different circumstances, she could picture him as an enemy.
"You're one hell of a girl."
Sakura leaned back against the door to Tsunade's office. A knot had formed in her throat and it didn't want to go away without a fight. Forehead girl, sissy girl, weak girl, she'd heard it all, and she'd vowed to get stronger and prove them wrong. She'd never been a hell of a girl, though. She'd never really been much of anything until Tsunade gave her a chance.
Until now, when he was giving her a chance, too.
Sakura looked back at Tsunade's closed door, thoughtful. "He doesn't like being called by his title, actually."
No one heard her, but Sakura smiled to herself and set off down the hall. She had packing to do.