Daughter of Traitors
By Inner Self
Note: Sasuke vs. Itachi doesn't happen before this Pein Arc. There is a time skip after the first chapter. (Starting point is before the Pein Arc.) Itachi's true allegiance is not known by anyone in Konoha. Sasuke doesn't join Akatsuki (because he has not encountered Tobi/Madara/You-know-who).
A special thanks to Katlou303, author of Sakura in Shadow. (1)
"Innocence Lost"
One autumn morning, seemingly the same as the day before, Team 7 was heading to their reserved practice field. Uzumaki Naruto went off to some Mount Myoubuku, while Sakura settled for Team Seven's old spot. It was a day like any other. Sakura once again vowed to get stronger, realizing now that her training never stopped. Naruto never stopped, so neither could she.
Sakura turned to her comrades before she began her warm up stretches. "Domo, Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichou, Sai," she said shyly with all the gratitude she could muster. "I didn't realize how sluggish I had become in my taijutsu. I've been overworking myself at the hospital to learn medical ninjutsu. I have neglected my other areas of expertise, to the point that they were almost dulled."
Yamato smiled fondly, Sai gave her his "fond smile" look, and Kakashi faked a forced one.
Kakashi responded, "We'll have you shining in no time."
To which Sai added, "Like the edge of a true assassin's blade."
Well, it fit her job description, all of theirs in fact. Konoha took dirty jobs, just like the other four Great Shinobi Nations.
And so they trained.
Sakura and the others trained in taijutsu 6 hours longer than recommended. Since Sakura was a medic, she was able to pulse chakra into her muscles to quickly relax them. Then she would signal to restart her one-on-one battles with her teammates, who switched on the hour. That was how she planned to spend her day off. Meanwhile, Ino did her grocery shopping (for a price).
Once the training grounds got too dark to see clearly, Sakura called off the session. Feeling nostalgic, she asked them to join her for some ramen at Ichiraku, near the West Gate.
She heard shouting just as they arrived. The gate guards were on high alert, they all sensed. Konoha jônin were flashing spears and chakra infused blades at the intruder. Peeking through the crowd was no use for Sakura. Just as she was about to jump over the crowd, Yamato placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Let Kakashi-kun and the other jounin handle this, hm?" he said, but his tone gave her no choice. She looked to her right where her former sensei was, but Sai had stepped into his vacated spot. Sai gave her a friendly wave and a fake smile.
"Let's get to Ichiraku, shall we?" he said as the crowd finally became quiet and expectant, as opposed to the previous anger and hostility to the asshole-who-showed-up-uninvited.
Sakura gave Sai an incredulous look, but consented when her stomach whined. She pivoted on the spot to follow him gracefully. She brushed the flap of the ramen stall out of the way, but jolted to a halt when she heard a deep baritone say, "I want to speak to Haruno Sakura."
She had heard that voice once before. Sakura released the flap behind her and narrowed her eyes on Sai. The stranger's words had effectively fisted her hands into the cloth of Sai's half-shirt. "Surely you saw what he looked like, you stand five inches above me."
"I saw what he looked like."
"Describe him."
"He has dark eyes and dark hair. He wears his hair in a low ponytail that falls midway down his back. He looks like that bastard—"
"Don't finish that sentence if you want to live," she ground out quietly before reflecting on what he just said. Her eyes widened. "Uchiha Itachi is in Leaf?"
"According to the bingo book, he is likely Uchiha Itachi. His picture is from his ANBU records, eight years ago. Kakashi will confirm all our suspicions."
And he did. Soon after, Kakashi walked off with the armed ANBU guards toward the Intelligence Headquarters.
[scene]
Kakashi was back within 30 minutes.
"That must have been the quickest interrogation on record," she said without humor.
"He wants to see you. We cannot get him to talk. I have never seen Morino Ibiki fail at an interrogation."
"So he is Uchiha Itachi."
Kakashi nodded solemnly. Sakura paid for her share of the ramen before following her former sensei. She was tired, chakra exhausted, and she had yet to go grocery shopping. Hopefully, she could get in and get out and the interrogators could get along with the execution.
Unfortunately, Uchiha Itachi was one for small talk. He dragged out their talks for weeks, long enough for news of his return to spread like wildfire throughout the fire nation. Of course, wherever one brother went, the other was sure to follow.
Sasuke returned one morning two weeks later. He was seized and taken instead to Hokage Tower. Tsunade called in his old team to deal with him.
"Take care of this runt for me," Tsunade said, flinging the younger Uchiha into Kakashi's arms. "He is not to go anywhere near the interrogation unit until maybe I will allow it."
Kakashi, bringer of bad ideas, suggested the "runt" be holed up in Haruno Sakura's apartment. Two ANBU squads were added to the security detail.
[scene]
"Where are you going?" Sasuke called from his makeshift bed on the couch.
"No comment," Sakura said, knowing she was incapable of lying.
"It's five in the morning. Are you going to train? Take me with you."
"I'm certainly not training with you. You are under house arrest, despite this not being your house."
"Aren't you part of the security detail?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow. Clearly the hokage's plan was flawed.
"Only when the ANBU squads are changing shifts. They do not change at the same time. You have no reason to go anywhere. I don't see why they bother."
"I have to see my brother."
Sakura scoffed. "You aren't going anywhere today."
"Tomorrow?" he said with a menacing smirk.
Sakura gave an aggravated sigh. "Look, Sasuke," she turned to him, "meditate or something. The interrogators need the information only he has about Akatsuki. I'm sure you can kill him later."
Sasuke's mood shifted violently, and she quickly turned away from him and out the door. She would not discuss the issue further. It would just become a violent mess. "Water my plants," she called warily to the other side of her front door, "and feed my carrier pidgeon." She turned to go.
[scene]
Sakura did not want to end her day on a sour note, just to go home to the younger brother, so she visited the Interrogation Room one hour a day, bright and early. Things were getting easier with the Uchiha. Morino tried leaving Sakura the room this time without ANBU guards. Itachi made slip ups here and there—as if he hadn't planned them.
Morino was getting impatient. The information gathered from Itachi happened to be true, however, so he postponed the execution for another three weeks. Bits of information were gathered by Sakura in those weeks, no need for interrogation skills with this one.
Finally, one day, when everyone least expected it, Itachi broke through his restraints and attacked Sakura. His chakra was depleted upon breaking the shackles. It was a poor and pathetic attempt, but Sakura responded no holds barred. He hit the back wall with a violent thud.
Sakura realized only moments after what she had done. Panicking, she ran over to heal him, thinking him unconscious. She told the guards angrily to hang back and swiped her hand through her hair in frustration. "His life is on the line. I will need space."
As she settled next to his broken, bloodied torso with palms full of green chakra, Itachi abruptly grabbed her shirt and pulled her close. She made the mistake of looking him in the eyes, as if to say, "What are you doing, you idiot?" The chakra binds had been broken. His chakra had been depleted with them, but his doujutsu seemed to be working just fine.
[scene]
Go to the abandoned Uchiha Compound.
Sakura woke in her bedroom with a splitting headache. Ino's worried face greeted her.
"My father was so worried about you. He heard about the incident directly from Morino-san. Tsunade-sama rushed over to HQ to assess the damage. Tsunade-sama said he meant to scare you. No permanent damage was done. My father brought you here, and Sasuke let him in. He sent your bird to my mother's shop, and I rushed over a.s.a.p."
Sakura was helped up by her best friend once Ino noticed the symptoms of her migraine. Ino then pressed soothing chakra coated fingers into Sakura's aching muscles. "Allow me. You need all your chakra for natural healing. I can take care of this easy enough." Ino said, smiling sweetly. Ino's compassion toward Sakura emphasized just how frightened she must be.
"So it was that bad, huh?" Sakura said mostly to herself. Meanwhile, a voice lingered in her mind, whispering to her: Go to the abandoned Uchiha Compound.
So that was the reason Itachi attacked her with Mangekyou. He could have killed her, but he offered her riddles instead. Sakura decided upon withholding the information from her best friend, wanting to know the whole story before she told it.
Ino returned to the Yamanaka Flower shop in time to help her mother close up.
Sakura left her room and was immediately greeted by Sasuke's knowing gaze. Nervously, she asked, "Does Yamanaka Flowers close at six today? Was I out that long?"
"He requested to see you," Sasuke said, feigning blunt indifference, which was replaced shortly with controlled malice. He was constantly angered by the world these days, whether or not he showed it.
Sakura was incapable of lying, and she saw no reason to deny it anymore. Another "no comment" would simply confirm it. "Yes," she said. "He requested to speak to me."
"Why?" he replied angrily, thinking he could pressure her with questions.
Sakura, too tired to deal with him, shrugged her shoulders. Supper was very tense for the first time since he came to live in her house. The next was sure to be more so. Knowing what she had to do, and knowing Sasuke's love for respecting rules that suited him, she put sleeping powder in his tea. When he realized what she had done, she grimly pressed down on his neck. Sakura put him to bed and left to go… grocery shopping at the 24hour store.
[scene]
Go to the abandoned Uchiha Compound.
It was not too late at night. It was the hour when shinobi got off work and headed to the entertainment strip near the west gate. Sakura had veered toward the east gate before making a "detour" to take a look at the abandoned compound.
There you will find the answers.
She walked around for a bit, a sort of leisurely stroll in the creepy, vacant compound. The ominous wind rustled through the trees. Goosebumps dotted her skin.
Seek out the Nakano Shrine.
She came to a bridge crossing the Nakano River and followed it Northeast. She respectfully discarded her shinobi sandals at the entrance and bowed her head quickly out of respect for the dead. She hesitantly walked to the far right corner of the temple. She kneeled to fumble with the edge of the seventh tatami mat. She cautiously lifted the edge, her eyebrows lifting higher and higher as she grabbed one of many candles lining the wall.
…The Clan's secret meeting place. (2)
She followed the staircase down and attempted to light the torches on her way down. They did not burn as they should. They needed replacing. Sakura continued anyway. She took her time, so as not to run into anything and drop her candle. After a few minutes fumbling in mid dark, she found a slab of ancient text.
"In order to bring out the power of darkness, you must give in to darkness," she read, "for the Mangekyou is the ultimate power and requires the ultimate sacrifice. Its power will be nurtured solely by the sacrifice of whom you hold closest to heart, the one who is not an immediate extension of yourself."
Sakura had some ideas as to what the slab meant. She thought about it as she retrieved her sandals and went to her next destination.
She had heard enough stories about the kunai and the uchiwa. It was the first obvious sign of unrest that was not registered until after the fact. Uchiha Itachi had been unhappy with his clan. Fact. He took out his frustrations on an innocent wall. Fact. She observed the kunai through narrowed, wary eyes. He tilted into madness and slaughtered them all weeks later. Another fact.
So why did she feel like Kakashi-sensei's advice applied here?
"Look underneath the underneath," he had always muttered under his breath. She felt like she owed it to Kakashi-sensei at least to waste a night of sleep searching Uchiha Itachi's family home floorboard to floorboard.
A thick layer of dust covered every inch. She could wait until daytime to see better or she could get it over with. Sakura took off her shoes again, bowed respectfully to the deceased owners. She gracefully knelt down and began inspecting the edges of every tatami mat, disturbing a minimal amount of dust. By two in the morning, she had narrowed her search to the last bedroom.
Itachi's room was across from Sasuke's, which she had found in the beginning. The brothers had childishly marked their rooms with signs made from lacquered wood. Itachi's looked to be the same handwriting as Sasuke's. A birthday present perhaps? Sakura knew she would need to search it eventually. She put it off foolishly, sacrificing sleep to prevent the inevitable.
The film of dust had been kicked up, she noticed instantaneously. Her heartbeat sped up. This was it: the moment Itachi sprung out of the closet at the far wall and stabbed her to death. Sakura cursed her imagination and took several deep breaths to calm herself.
Someone had been here recently. And Sakura wondered why. The whole house creeped her out. She hadn't found one trap, but it would be in his room if anywhere. She scanned the dark room for an hour, her paranoia taking root. Sakura's eyes had adjusted to the dark by now, and the sky had adjusted to a dark blue. She thought about who might have come in here without leaving evidence in any other part of the house. Another shinobi had come through here. She touched the floor again. "There is dust, but it's not a layer of film like the outside rooms," she thought critically. "Perhaps it was years ago."
Keeping her guard up, she started to turn over tatamis. Her movements slow and methodical, the task took about another hour. Nothing turned up. She ran her fingers along the wooden support beams, and climbed onto the ceiling. In the middle of the room was a bar running from one beam to another. She shuffled onto it and checked for a carved out portion. Where the beam intersected at a right angle with the other, she found the hiding place. The false front design looked unhurried. Sakura gave a wry smile. Didn't everything Uchiha Itachi did? It fit perfectly and lifted when she examined the knot in the wood. Honestly, only someone as smart as Sakura (Neji, Kakashi, Shikamaru, etc.) could have found the opening.
Sakura reached in with a delicate hand and barely managed to pull the snuggly fitted object from its hiding place. It was a mission scroll.
Sakura paused a moment. Her pulse began to race again, until she calmed it to a gentle, but persistent thrumming. She tried to empty her mind as she waited for the morning rays of sunshine. She tried for what seemed like an eternity and wondered if she might still be stuck under Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan, if this was all part of his plan. "Of course it is. I can't believe I poisoned Sasuke's tea," she thought as she waited. "If I poisoned his tea, then that could not possibly help." She would have to have a talk with Sasuke when she got home, to make sure the events of the evening were real, she thought morosely. He would have an advantage in the argument, which he could utilize for his incessant questioning.
She nodded off and awakened to the pink rays of 6 AM sunlight. Sakura rolled out the scroll, ready to leave and sneak back into her apartment. Oh, wait, the ANBU would notice. Hm. She would have to go to Ino's house first, and beg her to lie to the ANBU if they ever asked questions. "Sakura was with me all night," she would say. "She drugged Sasuke to make your lives easier."
She began to scan the scroll in her haste to be done with the foolish errand she had agreed to. She carelessly dropped the scroll and watched it tumble to the floor in a daze.
"Orders…," she mumbled to herself. "He was ordered." She dropped to the floor to retrieve the scroll. With all the urgency her voice could muster, she said, "I have to get this to Tsunade-sama!" Turning to run, she felt a tremor as she heard a great explosion far west of her location. She fell gracelessly to the floor and dropped the scroll again. Fearfully, she hurried to secure the scroll in its secret place, reorganizing her priorities. The village was under attack.
[Insert Pein here]
Sakura had no time to think, no time to blink, because the world was whirling around her all too quickly. The explosion had wiped out the center of Konoha. Millions of people were crying out from the rubble as she ran towards Konoha Byoin. The hospital was gone. The patients—gone. She allowed herself foolishly a few seconds to cry before the battle picked up around her and she was lost in the fray.
Sometime in the middle of it, Tsunade-sama released a forbidden technique that stabilized the condition of the living. Her right hand, Shizune, was not revived by the technique, Sakura noticed as she went around the battle sites. Once the worst was taken care of, Sakura headed for the Interrogation HQ. Every floor aboveground was reduced to rubble.
She found Morino Ibiki easily enough. "We sealed them inside. If they survive, we will continue interrogations as usual." Sakura thought it inhuman, voicing her opinion loudly. She began lifting the rubble and tossing it without much forethought. Morino Ibiki protested loudly and tried to stop her. She easily shrugged out of his hold.
Angrily, she called over her shoulder, "What do you think Tsunade-sama will have to say about this?"
To which, he paused a moment. His voice as gentle as he could manage, Morino informed Sakura of her mentor's condition. "It could have been worse."
The two agreed to create ventilation shafts for the prisoners trapped underground. Another was made just wide enough to let down packets of food and water. Hopefully, it would be enough, but Sakura doubted it. Sasuke showed up at dusk with Naruto. They had been scanning the village and tallying Naruto's own casualty list.
Naruto gave her the good news of his victory, and how Pein had given back the souls of their loved ones. Shizune's appearance an hour later confirmed it. Sakura went with Shizune to continue her medic duties. At the end of the day, Danzo had taken over as presiding Hokage.
Sakura's discovery did not matter one bit with him and the old council restored to full power.
[scene]
Sasuke was itching to dig his way into the Interrogation HQ basement, so an ANBU squad led him off to help Sakura and the medics. When her chakra was running low, she used his and continued to mend the people's wounds. By midnight, they had retreated to her house in the northern part, near the Hokage Monument. Thankfully, everything on the Northern edge had been spared, including the residential district overlooked by the Monument. So her house, among many others, had been spared. From the looks of it, the Uchiha Compound on the far East side had been spared as well (and she'd been in it at the time of the explosion.)
"You are lucky that blast didn't kill me," Sasuke said with reserved hostility.
"Whether or not I drugged you, you would be dead. You were under house arrest."
The conversation dropped as abruptly as it started. It could finish in the morning.
[scene]
Sakura was contemplative and just as brooding as Sasuke the next morning. Sasuke picked up on her change quickly. He stared at her silently from the couch as she prepared breakfast in the kitchen. He ate it suspiciously. She did not blame him. For one, she deserved it. Also, she had too much on her mind to care what he thought of her.
"So, what happened last night?" she asked.
"You don't remember?" he said, sneering at her.
"I remember a little bit. I'm just hoping I didn't do that to you."
"You poisoned me and snuck off."
She tried to look guilty. He could tell she wasn't. "I'm sorry," she said, and that was sincere. His anger receeded to a degree.
"Are you asking because of current events?"
She gave him a look he interpreted perfectly well. He could read her best of anyone.
"You don't know what is real. Itachi can mindfuck anyone, so don't get too down on yourself," he poured some tea and sniffed it before taking a sip. "What you saw the last 24 hours was not the world of the eternal sharingan. It was real. Give yourself 48 more hours. Then I will tell you the same. His Sharingan can only put you in that world for 72 hours."
"It's just… I've been in a waking nightmare since he attacked me."
Sasuke's hand shot out to grab hers.
She spilled the story, about how she was the reason Itachi came to Konoha. Supposedly.
"What does he want with you?"
"Honestly, probably nothing," she lied. For once it was hidden by her anger as she jerked her hand out of his grasp. Now was not the time to spill everything. Danzo could not know that she knew. She would have to wait out Tsunade-sama's coma. If Sakura visited her every day, perhaps she could accelerate the healing process…
Danzo became the official leader of Konoha effective immediately. He was inaugurated at the Chuunin Exam Stadium. His first order of business was announced in his inauguration speech: "The traitor Uchiha Itachi is to be executed at dawn."
"A bit dramatic," Sakura said, her face reflecting the stress of current events, so she told Sasuke and Naruto. They were surrounded two squads of ANBU guards. "But there you have it."
That night, Sakura put her genjutsu skill to good use. She laid it down as she went to see Itachi for the last time. She poured her chakra in thin layers along doorknobs and handrails. She put on her fake smile as she comforted those she came to know in the interrogation unit. "I know your losses were grievous. I am so sorry." She would place a gentle hand on their shoulder. And the trap would be set. When Sakura got to Itachi's holding room, she walked thunderously over to him. "You Akatsuki bastards," she yelled, "Don't you think our village has had enough? Why not attack us again tomorrow? Is three invasions in three years too much to ask?"
She flared chakra into her hands and made to smack him. Instead, she cut through the chakra sealing shackles, breaking it from the outside in and restoring Itachi's abilities. A split second later, she released a pulse of chakra that activated her stunning jutsu. A blinding blue light enveloped everyone but Itachi and her.
She pulled him into a silent run up the stairwell, Itachi swiftly knocking out opponents clambering down to capture them. The light wore off after three seconds, but it evened out the odds a bit. Sakura and Itachi were bleeding profusely at the end of the close-quarters combat. They healed up after the fight ended, and stole the clothes of their fallen comrades.
Quietly, they snuck into the night and out of Konoha.
[scene, one year later]
Itachi, despite earning the trust of one individual from Konoha, returned to his previous plan. He laid a trail of evidence that led Sasuke, Team 7, and two Root squads to his and Sakura's location. Sakura, unfortunately, would not be able to escape. Running was not so easy for her these days.
Team 7 found them in an abandoned temple. As Sasuke faced down his brother, Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai cornered her and begged her to see reason. The reunion was awkward at best.
"At least…," Kakashi conceded, "Do it for your child. Come home, Sakura."
Sakura felt torn. She wanted so badly to give them the truth, but there were too many variables. She had to try and run and hope Kakashi was the swiftest of her pursuers. She needed them to know.
Her plan failed. There were too many variables. One of the Root caught up to her and knocked her unconscious.
She never saw her friends privately. Until the day of her delivery, a Root member always stood vigil. No one but the assigned medics was allowed into her cell. On the day of delivery, Haruno Sakura was declared dead due to exhaustion and bloodloss. The baby had refused to come out last minute, they said, and complications arose. Her last words, the medics reported to her grieving friends: "Her name will be Haruno Bara."
Haruno Bara. Field of Roses.
[End of Chapter]
For anyone who thinks that's some sexism thing…. Her father was a traitor, yes? Do you want the last name of a traitor? Besides, it's cute. I will do my best not to go all Mary Sue (only someone blind would think she was… hopefully.)
I am to make this a dialogue story that reflects on the series. I am working on my dialogue ability. Thanks to Katlou303 once again, for throwing my mind into a new plot bunny (despite having a calculus test tomorrow. Hahaha…)
Explaining the chapter title:
-Sakura is pregnant upon return to Konoha (not a virgin)(this happened)
-Sakura is proclaimed a traitor (guilty)(this sort of happened).
-Sakura is stripped from her child and executed (this might have happened in a sneaky, Danzo-y way).
Please feel free to review. Or like. Or anything like that. ^^ I might add more meat to this chapter, but I have to study.