For a while, it had seemed as if they, the Allied Shinobi Forces, had been winning. It had seemed as if fate was in their hands, and it seemed as if they were in control - finally. But, as it would turn out, it had all been nothing but false hopes. Despite all of their efforts, despite everything that they had done to prevent what turned out to be inevitable, they had failed. Everything that they had done, all the brave souls who had sacrificed their lives on the front lines for the cause of the war and for the sake of achieving peace, and all those still standing, everything that they had done had been in vain, it seemed.
It left many of the shinobi feeling disheartened and crestfallen, and the level of their morale dropped considerably. There were some who were beginning to ask themselves, "What's the point? Why fight any longer? What can we do? There is nothing left for us to do, and there is nothing left for us."
And maybe they had been correct.
Somehow, by a miraculously slim chance, Madara had obtained the second Rinnegan, and that was when a handful realized that it was all over for them, that there was absolutely nothing else that they could do to save their lives and the preserve the precious world that they called home. The Mugen Tsukuyomi had been cast, and everyone in the world beneath the light of the moon had been captured by the genjutsu, and those on the battlefield were encased in cocoon-like structures, and put to sleep. Their dreams were results of the genjutsu; their dreams were lies.
Their dreams were the results of the inner selfishness that they had lingering within the depths of their hearts. Their dreams were the results of the things they had been thinking about and dreaming about and hoping for right at that moment, right before they became prisoners to the eternal genjutsu.
Some of the last things on Hinata's mind had been her sister, her deceased cousin Neji, and Naruto, all of whom had appeared in her dream. She had been sitting on a bench with Naruto at her side - they were a happy couple - and in the background was Neji, alive and well, with her sister making an attempt to remain silent. She dreamed of happier days, and she dreamed of her heart's current selfish desires. It all felt so real, and having succumbed to the Mugen Tsukuyomi, she probably couldn't tell whether or not it was real; she was unconscious now, after all. She and Naruto laughed together, and she smiled to herself in her dream with her head resting against Naruto's warm and sturdy shoulder. After all this time, they were finally together. The boy who had captured her heart was now her boyfriend, and she didn't have a complaint in the world.
That was Hyūga Hinata's dream.
There were five individuals, however, who didn't fall victim to the genjutsu. They stood safely within a Susano'o. The Mugen Tsukuyomi would have been able to affect anything where light could pass through, yet, the original Team Seven remained safe and sound. Tired, breathless, irritated, anxious, panicked, and injured, but they were safe. They were not victims. As long as they still stood their ground, and despite the fact that the genjutsu was currently in place, they might just have a chance to save the world. With his third eye, Madara seemed even more invincible than before, but any effort that they made would be worth it. Their efforts were necessary.
Uchiha Obito.
Hatake Kakashi.
Haruno Sakura.
Uzumaki Naruto.
Uchiha Sasuke.
They were the five people unaffected by Mugen Tsukuyomi, and they were the five (though one was more inadvertently, though his role had been just as important in the war's outcome) who saved the world. Black Zetsu had had a role as well, surprisingly turning on Madara, shocking both the ancient Uchiha and the Konoha-nin. And then, there had been Kaguya, the woman who had been the reason for the coming of the shinobi. She had eaten the forbidden chakra fruit and she had once been a heroine, the savior of the world, and the creator of a world of shinobi. Seeing Black Zetsu turn on Madara, however, and his declaration of his true loyalty to Kaguya and not the former, and then seeing Madara turn into the legendary woman raised questions among the four heroes.
It was then that they realized that the Mugen Tsukuyomi had been something Kaguya had been planning from the start in order to be resurrected. It had been her hope that someday there would be someone who sought to create the ideal world where there was no warfare and only peace. Sacrifice, blood, tears, sweat, war, it all went into the plan. There had been people foolish enough to believe that Mugen Tsukuyomi would be the solution to their worries and woes.
This eternal genjutsu was no solution. Taking away any autonomy that anyone might have had, trapping every living being within a genjutsu that opened up an endless dream of their deepest, darkest, and purest desires.
The concept of a world without pain and suffering was good in principle, but it was an unlikely world. Initiating the Mugen Tsukuyomi were certainly not the way of instilling an eternal peace. Most would rather throw their lives on the line and live in a world of war and strife than give up their current freedoms to be trapped within a shell, rotting away as they dreamed of the flames of their heart's deepest desires.
The harshness of a bittersweet reality was better than living in an eternal dream.
Kaguya had drained the chakra of those trapped in tree's shells, and she had every intention of turning them all into White Zetsu to create her perfect little mindless army that would do her bidding as she commanded them to.
Naruto and Sasuke were the 'reincarnations' of her grandsons, Asura and Indra. With the power that they had been graced with by the Sage of the Six Paths combined with the power that they already had, it almost seemed as if it wouldn't have been enough.
Somehow, still, they had made it through, which only went to prove that perseverance and the good prevailed over all and against the odds. Team Seven, they were the saviors of the world.
But yet, everything was far from being over. The battle against Kaguya had been physically taxing on an exponential scale. Shifting between dimensions, utilizing large-scale attacks on an alien rabbit-moon goddess, and finally coming to be able to seal her and win a victory to put an end to the drawn out war. The war had come to an end, all through sacrifice and blood, sweat, and tears, but all was not over. Sasuke allying himself with the Allied Shinobi Forces seemed too good to be true, and there were a select few who felt that there were underlying intentions to his cause. There were those who had questioned his intentions, and there were people like Sakura who had sensed since his arrival to the battlefield that something was just slightly off, but right then, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that there was Sasuke, and the four previous Hokage, there to join in on the fray.
Sasuke again declared his intention to become Hokage, and had spoken of his intentions to assassinate all of the current Kage and spark a REVOLUTION upon the world of shinobi in his attempt to bring reform and change. He would rule in a form akin to a dictatorship, so it seemed, but that was the least of Naruto's problems. He could not, and would not, allow his best friend to assassinate the Kage and do away with all of the bijū, least of all Kurama. Kurama was his friend, and he would be damned if he let a friend die, especially by the hands of another whom he considered to be his best friend, a brother.
Kakashi was too weakened to do a thing, beyond spent from all the chakra he had gone through, and with the strain on his eyes from using the Sharingan, though they were gone now. Sakura, weakened as well from her efforts in the war, was about to move to stop Naruto and Sasuke in their inevitable final battle, but she succumbed to genjutsu as Sasuke feigned thrusting his arm into her chest. And so, too weak to resist the genjutsu, she was knocked out.
They fought with all their might, with all the energy and chakra that they had left flowing through their battered bodies. Sasuke had been ready to kill Naruto, for that boy of golden sunshine stood in the way of his goals, and Naruto should have been ready to kill Sasuke, but he wouldn't. He would only beat the Uchiha into the ground and make him eat dirt, but he would never bring his hands to deliver a killing blow.
And so, they collided in a final blow, the forces of their attacks blowing off their forearms into oblivion. The Valley of the End and its statues of Madara and Hashirama were decimated, fingers of the statue ironically falling to lock in the way shinobi would after they hand ended an official sparring match.
Sasuke came to terms with everything from the beginning to the now, finally coming to terms with the importance of Team Seven to him, and he was prepared to die knowing that he had had a family for a time. Naruto, too, was ready to die right then and there. All had been resolved in the world of the shinobi, and following their deaths would be a time of peace and repose, though not without tribulation and the painstaking processes that the shinobi and civilians alike would have to endure in order to recover from the throes of war. But still, there would be peace in the world, and Naruto was satisfied in knowing that he had had a hand in bringing peace to the world.
They all deserved it, after all.
To their surprise, but necessarily to their dismay, they survived another day. Sasuke was missing his left forearm, and Naruto was missing his right, but they were fine. Sakura and Kakashi eventually found them, and their reunion wasn't without tears.
Team Seven was whole again - finally.
And with this, all the world's major troubles had finally come to an end. Sakura healed their stumps of arms to close the wounds until they could return to the village.
Those trapped within the cocoons of the tree were able to be freed with the end of Mugen Tsukuyomi, and they too, were all drained as the tree had been consuming their chakra.
Hinata had stumbled out, almost collapsing the moment her feet touched the ground, but she was lucky her team mates had been there to support her. They all supported one another, physically and emotionally, on their journey back home. It was the same for the rest of the shinobi around them, too.
Hinata had looked back on the memory for a brief time when she returned to Konoha with the rest of her comrades, deceased and all. She had kept a hardened demeanor and marched onward, quietly thanking the stars above that their world had been saved. Madara was dead, and this time it would be for good. To Konoha went the village's shinobi, all of their fallen comrades, and a few certain other individuals that would be dealt with there.
Sasuke, Kabuto, Orochimaru, and the rest of Team Taka. Team Taka's punishments, should they receive any at all, would be considerably lesser than the punishments delivered to the rest, though they might still be charged criminally for association to and collaboration with Sasuke and the Akatsuki. Orochimaru was supposed to be dead, but the fact that he was still up on his own two legs with a beating heart meant that he, too, had to be dealt with. With him alive, his past crimes would not be pardoned. Although, he could be credited in aiding in the war, considering it was he who had resurrected the past four Hokage. Indubitably, the old snake would simply slither off into the darkness not to be found, though there was no telling what the man would now.
Kabuto, on another hand, would hardly be able to see the light of day if he were allowed to live. Of course, the other villages would push for his immediate execution, but Sasuke would testify the fact that Izanami had been placed on him, and the only way someone could break free was if the person cast beneath the jutsu could acknowledge their wrongdoings, acknowledge the results of their actions, and accept their possible fates as the subsequent consequences for those actions, all of which Kabuto - evidently - had been able to accomplish. Kabuto's arrival to the battlefield had helped change the whole tide of the war with the revival of Sasuke.
Indirectly, Kabuto could have been considered a war hero, too.
He helped to stop the war that he helped start. An incredible change in character, and it just couldn't be ignored. Still, the man would not walk away unscathed. He had to pay the price of his actions. Resurrecting the dead, being the prime source for the death of thousands, and nearly destroying the world, Kabuto had to pay. No matter what he did to try to make up for the crimes of his past, however, would never be enough for certain people. If he were allowed to live, and live in the village, he would be met with scorn and disdain, harsh words and harsh glares. He would be kept under constant surveillance just for safety measures. It didn't matter that he was a changed person now - by many, Kabuto would never be trusted. He was an international criminal.
He wouldn't live a normal life, not with his record.
Sasuke, on the other hand, had a rather heavy record of his own, although it wasn't nearly as bad as the other Oto-nin's. Still, he was also an international criminal who would have to pay for his crimes. Sasuke had played a major role in the war upon his arrival to the battlefield. He was one of the big saviors of the world, and no one could deny the great deeds that he had done. But still, with his association with Orochimaru, the murder of Shimura Danzo, his involvement at the Five Kage Summit, his association with the Akatsuki, and the attempted kidnapping and murder of Killer Bee, Kumogakure's jinchuriki, the threat and attempt to kill the five Kage, and possibly many little other things stuff in here and there.
His defection from Konoha and attacking former comrades, it was all those things that made people so wary to trust him. They just couldn't trust him. Even with all of the great things he did in the war, people would remain hesitant in offering him an ounce of their trust, and if they ever did, it would have been something that he would have to work to earn for years on years. Trust was built over time.
Sasuke didn't particularly care to earn anyone's trust - at least, people who weren't really of importance. People he had once considered friends, people that he had wronged, people who he had known as acquaintances, those were the people he might have cared just a little about in regards to gaining their trust. He wanted to be able to live comfortably in Konoha, if he were allowed to return and return alive and remain alive, and go about his life. During the war, when he said that he wanted to protect the village, the Uchiha had meant what he had said, and he would not go back on his word.
He didn't expect a lot of people to believe him, but if they did, then great. Sasuke would have no complaints. If not, then oh well. There was nothing he could do about it, and he wasn't going to stress himself over trying to prove himself to people who obviously weren't even going to bother with him, and in return, he wouldn't bother with them. It wasn't going to be a one way street. Besides, he had nothing to prove. A lot of things might have changed about him, but he was still the same person in his core. Perhaps not so revenge-driven, because there was nothing he wanted revenge against anymore. That was all over and done with. All of that revenge bullshit that he had been so obsessed with for so many years of his life, it was all over now. He knew the truth. He still felt a touch of bitterness in his heart when he thought about Konoha and what certain officials forced his brother to do.
Maybe there was a trace of hatred in that deadened heart of his for those people, but there was nothing he could do. There wasn't anything he was going to do. If he was given the chance of freedom, though it wouldn't be total freedom, he wouldn't jeopardize that chance by pulling something stupid. No, he'd leave them alone. Danzo was already dead. He had been the main focus point of his hatred, but then he remembered that the man had been killed by his own hand.
Sasuke was satisfied with just that.
Now, he wanted to preserve the village that he had once called home, and he wanted to keep it safe. He wanted to protect the village that his brother had sacrificed himself for. Itachi had given up a normal life, he gave up his brother's love, he killed his own parents, and the whole clan, all to protect Konoha. Sasuke wouldn't let all of his brother's hard work and sacrifices have been in vain. That, and he had once loved Konoha as well. It had been his home.
He was going to treasure and protect it.
The journey back to Konoha was a long one, and not only in distance. Shinobi left the battlefield with heavy hearts and grim faces, carrying not only the weapons and supplies that they had brought to the war with them, but they carried what was still left of their courage. They carried many more burdens that would weigh upon their shoulders, chests, and minds for quite some time.
All the shinobi of the Five Great Nations, they needed whatever courage they could muster from what was left in their souls. After all, with all of their supplies and their weapons, they carried their deceased friends, family, and comrades in body bags piled on stretchers, some cradled in people's arms - of all the bodies they could find, anyways.
Some corpses had been completely destroyed or lost, no matter where they searched. Battles took place on countless fields in various regions in widespread areas, and the shinobi searched long and hard, still not finding the people they had been looking for.
Some people were lucky enough to recover the dead that they had known, and some were luckier still to be returning home with their loved ones at their side. Injured, bloodied, and exhausted, but they were still alive, and that was the most that they could ask for.
So they thanked the lucky stars, and those who believed in the gods thanked them. They prayed and wished for a long-lasting peace, and hopefully, their wishes would come true. They all deserved that much, at least. For all that they had sacrificed and all that they had lost, the shinobi deserved a break. They deserved a time of peace and quiet, and they deserved time to heal.
And for many, the healing process would be long. It would be a difficult process, one with plenty of arduous obstacles to overcome.
Hinata was one of those unlucky ones who had found themselves in such a position.
She had shed tears during the war at the time of Neji's death, but afterwards she did her best to put it aside and continue fighting. She fought harder and was more determined to win, especially now for Neji's sake. Hinata had leaped in front of Naruto to protect him, but to protect her, Neji had sacrificed his life. He was always protecting her. Always. She knew that it was the 'duty' of a member of the Branch House, but their bond had extended far beyond that. They had each other's backs, and when they fought, they fought in sync. They knew each other well, just like the backs of their own hands.
In the past they weren't the closest, but something had changed and the bond that Hinata and Neji built had become unbreakable.
But just once, Hinata wanted to have been able to do something for him in return. Neji had always acted as her shield and her knight in shining armor. For once, she wanted to have been able to not only save Neji to repay him for all the times that he had saved her, but she wanted to be strong enough to save herself so that he wouldn't have to.
But now, Neji was gone. She casted that thought aside during the war to focus on the battles and to focus on saving the world. Clearing her mind hadn't been too difficult because she knew that she had to keep her focus. She had to be calm and collected. She had to be cool. It had been war. There hadn't been any time to be distraught and cry out in grief. There would be time to mourn later. She had to fight for everyone's sake, and for Neji. He sacrificed himself for her, and she was going to repay him by helping to save the world. His death would not have been in vain, for she would have never been able to forgive herself if her cousin's sacrifice had been all for naught.
After finally arriving home in Konoha, after everything had ended, Hinata still remained calm, knowing that her job was not yet over. From the journey and her depleted chakra levels from having been trapped inside the cocoon, she was exhausted, but there was still more to do.
Despite her own grievances, she helped the civilians who had lost friends, family, and other loved ones cope, as well as the shinobi who had returned with her. She helped heal the injured with the little healing knowledge that she had in hopes that it would make a difference. She couldn't do much with her lack of chakra the first day, but when she was healed herself and when her chakra returned, she continued to extend her hand to help. She provided home made medical balms and salves for those who had been treated to continue to apply to their external wounds, and she provided comfort for those who were so injured that they weren't expected to make it through the week.
The wounded were all treated first before anyone even began to think about the deceased. They didn't want the number of the deceased to rise anymore than they already would.
When Hinata had done all that she could to be of assistance, she walked back to her clan's compound, grim news waiting to be told. Her expression was somber and her steps were slow. Her bandaged hands were clasped together tightly, and small little wounds began to open up and bleed through the white wrappings from the tightness of her grip.
At that time, it was late at night on the day after their return to the village.
Hinata kicked off her sandals and opened the shōji door quietly, gently sliding it shut. She trudged through the room and into the hallways, meandering around the large house until she found her father's room. Raising an arm, she rapped her knuckles lightly against the wooden frame, sliding the door open only when she heard her father stir and give her permission for her to enter.
Hinata's father had looked genuinely happy to see her, initially, but once he got a good look at her face, his expression fell to his usual mask of indifference, this time with a thin solemn veil. Hiashi voiced his concern, his words somewhat louder in the dead of night, and Hinata dropped to her knees with a thud, her head hanging, loose locks of dark violet hair falling over her shoulders, ends brushing against the tatami floor.
For a few moments, she didn't speak, and there was a deadened silence hanging in the air. All that could be heard was the quiet sound of everyone breathing.
"Neji nii-san..he.."
Hinata didn't even know how to finish her sentence, but it seemed that she wouldn't have to. Hiashi understood. He looked away, but his head soon rose and he fixed his gaze upon her daughter.
The young Hyūga's eyes were pinned to the floor, and she thought her bottom lip was going to bleed from how hard she was biting down on it. She wanted to cry and let everything that had remained pent up within her out, but she refused to show any weakness. Crying was a sign of weakness in this clan, and she was already thought of as weak enough as it was, no matter how much she proved, no matter how far she went to prove everyone wrong. Never again did she want to appear weak before her father.
Hinata heard the sound of blankets rustling and a pair of feet stepping onto the floor, but those feet never moved any further. After a moment of what seemed like hesitation, those same pair of footsteps drew nearer to her instead, and she squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill out.
Before she knew it, she felt a pair of gentle arms wrap around her, hugging her tightly. Opening her eyes and looking to the side, she was slightly shocked to see that it was her father. A man who hardly showed any emotion, pleasant or not, and a man who rarely openly showed his affections - he was now hugging his daughter to his chest. His embrace felt protective, but almost awkward, too. Still, once she had gotten over the shock of it, Hinata began to appreciate it. The bond between Hiashi and Hinata had started to mend before, but it just wasn't there yet. She wondered if it ever would be.
Even so, it was still nice to receive such a gesture from her father. He said nothing to her, only gently rubbing her back. His own facial expression held a touch of sadness, but it was a face that no one else could see, and he would express nothing more.
Hinata's lip quivered for a moment, and she suddenly breathed in sharply and began to shake. She would not cry. She had once promised herself that she would never shed another tear in her father's presence. She would not. But still...she had held her tears captive for far too long, and now they were breaking free of their prison.
She was weeping.
Tears flowed steadily down her cheeks, wetting her father's shoulder. Every now and then she'd breathe in sharply and exhale heavily in a shudder, making audible noises every so often, but they were quiet. Hiashi held her for a little longer before pulling away, holding the girl by her shoulders. Hinata looked up and met her father's eyes, looking away a second after, tears still streaming down her face. The clan head reached a hand out and wiped away her tears.
"Hinata," he said, his voice calm and steady. He knew, too. He had seen his nephew fall. He had failed his brother in protecting his son. "Head on to bed. We both endured much during the war. Rest."
When Hiashi rose and went to sit on his bed, Hinata simply nodded, and she, too, was up on her feet once more. Delivering a polite bow, she stepped out of her father's room and slid the door shut. She stood outside for just a while, sniffling as she tugged down her sleeves, raising her arms to wipe her face dry. Hinata wandered around her house for a few more minutes to try and gather herself and rebuild her composure. She stopped outside of her younger sister's room shortly, gently opening the door, peering inside. The eleven year old was asleep in her bed, her face facing towards the wall.
A minute smile graced Hinata's lips and she stepped back, closing the door. She wasn't going to wake her sister, not even for the grave news that she had brought home with her. It could wait until the morning. Rather, it could wait until her sister came home from the Academy tomorrow. Something within her felt sure that her father had yet to say anything to Hanabi of Neji's fate.
The world had fallen victim to the effects of the Mugen Tsukuyomi, but it seemed that everyone who had remained in the village had been fine, and life had continued on as normal when the genjutsu came to an end. For that, she was glad.
Sighing, the door was closed all the way once again, and she continued to walk. It was a while before she headed towards her own room. Before that, she had left the house to sit on the veranda floor. Verandas were all around the outer edges of the houses in the Hyūga compound. Most houses were built in such a traditional way for the village's clans. It was nice. Hinata thought the architecture was pretty.
As she sat outside, she looked up at the stars, thinking that somehow, it looked as if thousands of new stars had appeared in the night sky, and that perhaps just one of them was shining brighter than the rest. When she was younger, Hinata always liked to think that when people died, they became the beautiful stars above to watch over their loved ones forever. Now that she was older, she was aware of the more scientific explanation for how stars come to be, but even so, she liked to think that the deceased were watching over people somehow.
Maybe that bright little star was her late cousin.
The thought elicited a smile.
When she had enough of the evening air, she went back inside the house, and she made her way to her room at last.
Once inside, she settled on top of her bed, too lazy and tired to grab a clean change of clothes, or to head off to shower. She simply curled up beneath the blankets and faced the wall as she lied down on her side. An arm reached out and she brushed the wall gently with the tips of her fingers, her arm retreating just a moment later. Her eyelids fluttered to a close, and she pulled the blankets up higher, burrowing her face within them. She curled up as tightly as she could, hoping that that would bring the feeling of a semblance of security.
For a little while, it did.
It was quiet.
Hinata thought she was going to fall asleep, but it wasn't long before her mind began to wander. She was restless. All she could think about was the war and all the damage that had been done. All she could think about everyone the Alliance had lost. What had once been an army of eighty thousand shinobi had been reduced by plenty. A third, a fourth, a fifth, she didn't know the fraction of what had been lost. All she knew was that a lot of people had died, and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. The dead were dead, and that was how it was supposed to be. The dead weren't supposed to return and walk the earth again. It was unnatural, firstly, and the war had only proved the consequences of it.
And now, thinking about the dead only made her thoughts return to Neji. Of course.
She squeezed her eyes and rubbed them to hold back anymore tears. The kunoichi didn't want to cry anymore. She had cried enough already.
Were there any more tears left to free from the dam?
There were.
Just like the last time, she couldn't stop the tears from coming. They just came. Tear after tear spilled down her face, soaking one little spot on her pillow, staining the fabric with the scent of salty tears. Eventually, the girl just cried herself to sleep. There was pain etched upon her countenance as she slept, and it didn't seem like it was going to fade.
Neji was gone, and nothing was going to change that. It didn't matter if she cried a pond, a stream, a river, lake, or an ocean. She would never see her cousin's face again. She would never spar with him again, and there would be no more heartfelt conversations between them. She wouldn't be hanging out with her friends with him by her side, and with that thought, she remembered that she wouldn't be the only one grieving over the loss of his life. Her friends, her family...they would feel the blow of his death as well.
Hinata would have to remind herself that Neji wouldn't want anyone to cry over him or mourn him for too long. He would want them to continue living as normal. Neji had sacrificed his life in order to preserve the world as it was. Continuing to cry over him...would that make his death have been in vain?
No, no, of course not. That was a silly thought. The world was safe, after all.
The world was safe.
While Hinata slept, a part of Konoha was still wide awake. There were those who were still trying to adjust, and there were those who were celebrating their victory or celebrating the safe return of loved ones. Others mourned the many lives that had been lost in a silent candle lit vigil, and other were still offering treatment to all of the wounded soldiers. Physical care, mental care, all of the medical-nin were dishing it out in full. Everyone was doing all they that could.
But when all of that was over, there would be only one thing that everyone had to think about.
Funeral arrangements, cremation arrangements, whatever the families wanted to do. That was what it would all come down to at the end of the day. That was what people had to think about.
Otherwise, the bodies would just be stinking cadavers rotting and decomposing. The odor from the deceased was already foul. The journey back home had been a long one, and no one had the supplies to help preserve the bodies. Besides, no one would have known who wanted who cremated or buried. Leaving the corpses as they were was the only choice they had.
Already, there were people going door to door asking about the deceased and what arrangements should be made, and there were people talking to the grieving shinobi still hanging around, the people who weren't quite ready to go back home and face whatever or whoever was waiting for them.
There were shinobi who had returned home to greet their families, and perhaps comfort them if there was a story to tell of the loss of a family member, or a friend, and some of those shinobi returned to the bodies, prepared to put the fallen ones to rest. Among those people were Hyūga Hiashi, and he only spoke a few simple words of greeting. He didn't have to say much of anything at all. Hiashi had shifted the gaze of his stern white eyes back and forth between all the medic-nin, and he said only one word.
"Burial."
No one had to ask who. In fact, no one had to ask any other questions at all. At least, they didn't bother to. There were a small handful of other Hyūga corpses, but there had been only one that Hiashi was ultimately concerned about. Neji. Neji was the son of his late brother, and he had been Hiashi's responsibility.
The other deceased members of his clan would be accounted for and taken care of by their own respective families within the clan.
Arrangements for all of the bodies were made quickly and efficiently. They had to be put to rest so that they could be at peace. Most of the corpses weren't pretty to look at at all, either too mutilated, or because of livor mortis. Some bodies were found lying face down, and by then, their frontal half of their body was reddened from the blood that had sunk from all over and settled. For some, no amount of cleaning up did any good. For those who wanted their family members and friends buried, some just wouldn't be having an open casket funeral.
Funeral arrangements...there were some who were lucky enough to not have to be forced to even give it a single thought. The people who had been waiting back in the village, waiting for those precious to them to return, they were fortunate in that those who that had been waiting for had returned breathing and on their feet. Some were badly injured, and some had only a few bruises and small lacerations, but they were alive. That was all anyone could hope to ask for.
In the case of people like Uchiha Sasuke, there just wasn't anyone to make funeral arrangements for.
His brother had long since been dead, and who knows what happened to Itachi's body after their final battle? They were criminals who had fought a vicious battle together, and they had fought under the eyes of no one. No one saw their little war, and no one saw Itachi die.
They had been alone.
But now, Sasuke was no longer alone. He had yet to atone for the sins he had committed over the years, but he was at peace with his former team. Getting a word of apology out had been difficult, but he had felt a wave of relief wash over him the moment he did.
Sasuke hadn't seen Team Taka since arriving to Konohagakure, but he didn't seem to care. He knew that they would be fine, no matter what happened to them. Despite their involvement with him, and temporarily the Akatsuki, they couldn't face much trouble. They were, after all, prisoners and experiments of the Snake Sannin.
And now, Sasuke simply wandered away from the crowds of shinobi and civilians gathering together. He walked away from the business they conducted, not even processing that he was still a criminal despite his efforts in the war, and that there would undoubtedly be a price for him to pay. Right now, there was a lot going on and people hardly gave him a second glance. He would be found later on, and he would be taken in for questioning, and he would be jailed. Kakashi had told him all that was likely to happen on their journey back to the village.
What happened next was all a guessing game. He didn't have a clue. Most likely, he would be killed. He wasn't expecting anything less of death. Perhaps his death would be the only way he could atone for his sins, but even so...would that be enough?
Kabuto, however, was a different story. When everyone had been freed from the tree, when the war ended and when people saw that it was all finally over, when people shouted their cries of victory up to the sky, when people had finished celebrating and congratulating each other in victory, and when people took a moment to silently mourn all of the lives that had been lost, Kabuto was one of the first that had been grabbed.
The man was jumped with a kunai held against his throat, shinobi from all the villages surrounding him. An exhausted Tsunade had approached the small crowd, her demeanor silent and calm.
"Konoha will handle him," the Hokage had said. "He was a shinobi of the Leaf once, and he will be our responsibility, regardless of the fact that he is an international criminal. He will be within the jurisdiction of the Land of Fire."
That was all there was to it.
Sasuke and Orochimaru had also been taken in Konoha's custody. Unlike Kabuto who was bound by chakra cuffs and heavily guarded, the pair of them had been allowed to walk freely with their hands by their sides (and with Sasuke, cuffing him would have been redundant anyways, considering he had only one hand), with only a few careful eyes pinned to them, watching their every move. If one of them so much as made a single wrong move, it would be the end for them.
Kabuto was immediately taken in for interrogation the moment Konoha's forces had stepped foot on village grounds, and Orochimaru had been retrieved quickly after that. It wouldn't be long before it came to be Sasuke's turn, but while he had been momentarily forgotten, he was taking the chance to liberate himself with a breath of fresh air. There was a lot to think about. If he were allowed to live at all, what would happen then? Most likely, he would be kept under tight watch. People wouldn't trust him, especially not immediately. If he was allowed to live in the village, his life wouldn't be a normal one. Not necessarily comfortable, either, but good enough considering the circumstances.
And just like that, his brief moment of freedom had come to an abrupt end.
Members of Konohagakure's Torture and Interrogation force had come to retrieve him, and Sasuke had been more than compliant, not saying a single word. He nodded his head when he was told he was being taken in for questioning; he had been expecting as much, and of course, the Uchiha had agreed to go along with it. After all, he had no reason to defy them, and he had no reason to fight back. He was no longer the 'bad guy.' He was playing for Team Konoha now, and little could be done to change that.
While he was surrounded, he walked without restraints. He could feel the eyes of the Torture Division's members flicker to him every now and then, watching him closely. Sasuke thought it was unnecessary, but they were only taking precautions, which was understandable.
When they had arrived at the building, the Uchiha was ushered inside and escorted into one of the many interrogation rooms. He was seated on the chair in the center of the room and he was quickly restrained. His one wrist was bound by a chakra cuff to the chair, not only to keep him from using his hand, but to keep him from accessing his chakra reserves. His ankles were bound as well, and his arm was tied to his body, and his body was tied to the chair with ropes and chains. If he even tried to access his chakra and make use of a jutsu, he would be painfully shocked. Hell, it wasn't as if he had recovered his chakra reserves quite yet, but what was he going to do with his chakra? He had no intentions of attacking anyone. He had come to terms with everything. He was going to protect this village as long as they would allow him to. He would atone for the sins that he had committed. He wished to repent for all that he had done. He knew that he was in the wrong, that he had wronged so many countless people. From the members of Team 7, to the whole of Konoha 11, to Team Taka, there were so many people whose forgiveness he did not deserve.
His eyes wandered around the room to survey his surroundings. There was no emotion in his eyes whatsoever. There was no malice, no hatred, no curiosity - nothing.
The room was large and built with bolted steel-enforced walls, and the ceiling was high and domed with several metal pipes and vents running over their heads. He could see an ANBU member or two perched up above, watching with scrutinizing eyes hidden behind their porcelain masks. There were several other ANBU scattered around the room, two guarding the door, and a few more spread around the edges of the room. There were four surrounding Sasuke, two of them focused on two monitors beside his chair, one seemingly staring him down, and the other watching at the closed double doors, his stance almost expectant.
Sasuke wondered what, or who, the man was waiting for, and soon enough, his question was answered.
The commanding officer of the Torture and Interrogation Division himself, Morino Ibiki, had walked into the room.
Sasuke must have been a pretty big deal if the ANBU weren't going to be handling the interrogation on their own. He could only imagine the presence and intensity level for Orochimaru's and Kabuto's interrogations.
Once Ibiki was inside, the doors were slammed shut, and the two ANBU who had been standing beside the door frames were now in front of them, unmoving. Ibiki paced around the room for only a few seconds before coming to stand in front of Sasuke, peering down at the younger male with an almost curious glint in his dark eyes. Sasuke simply stared back, not averting his gaze and not uttering a single word.
It all began with the routine questioning. Sasuke's answers were honest and relatively swift, and the quickness at which he answered was thought of as suspicious. He wasn't overly eager - in fact, he wasn't quite happy at all; all he wanted to do was rest and be left alone, but sadly that just wasn't how the world worked - to be delivering answers, but he knew that it was what he had to do.
He was asked about his reasons for leaving Konoha and who he had gone to. Some knew the answer to the latter of the two questions, but these were routine questions tailored specifically for him, and he had to be asked for the sake of the questioning and the sake of taking down data for future records.
If his hand wasn't bound, the arm that he had left would have instinctively raised to rub at the part of his neck that had once been marked with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal. When he closed his eyes, he could still feel its burning sensation, and he could still feel the pain coursing through his body as he shifted into a completely different physical form upon the seal's activation. The less he thought of it, the less of it he felt. It was only but an uncomfortable feeling now, maybe an itch that he just couldn't soothe.
"During the Chūnin Exams," Sasuke began, "in the Forest of Death. Orochimaru nabbed me and branded me with a Cursed Seal. Kakashi sealed it, but it was dependent upon my own willpower to suppress it. Back then, I was hungry for vengeance and Orochimaru knew that, using that knowledge to manipulate me. That Cursed Seal I had...it only made it worse, and so I left the village with a band of his lackeys."
He answered each question smoothly, hiding almost nothing at all. There was only one little bit of information that he was suppressing, and he was grateful that there hadn't been any questions about it. He doubted that it would be of any relevance, and when the interrogation ended, he wanted to sigh in relief to have known that it was true.
The truth about his clan would remain a secret. Perhaps one day he would reveal the truth, but not quite yet. Although his clan had been in the wrong, he did not want the village's vision of them to be marred by the hideous truth. Itachi might have been revered as a hero, and Sasuke might not be as hated as he was now, but he wasn't ready. Not yet.
The chakra restrictors around his ankles were deactivated and removed, his wrist was freed, and the bindings around his body were untied. Sasuke was escorted out by a small ANBU cell, and again, he felt the fresh night air settle against his skin, and the light breeze send locks of messy hair astray.
"We're to take you to the village's jail until further decisions have been made," one of the ANBU said. Sasuke only nodded. He expected as much.
The walk to the jail wasn't a terribly long one in distance, but it seemed longer with the void of silence. He didn't mind, though. He wasn't one for making conversation, and he sure as hell wasn't going to be making any light or polite conversation with the likes of the ANBU force.
When they had arrived at the small facility, they stripped him of his chokutō and any other weapons that he had. The bars of the cells were chakra proofed, and he was told that he'd be shocked if he tried to break out or use any chakra. Not that he was going to, but he nodded anyways. As the ANBU let, he took a seat on the small cot. Legs spread out, he rested his elbow on top of a thigh and his chin in his hand. He sat in silence in that position for quite some time until he heard the sound of a scuffle down the corridor to his left. He didn't rise to stand, simply picking his head up, moving his hands into his lap, and leaning to try to see what was going on.
The cells were separated by only bars. There weren't proper walls. It was only a jail, after all. A temporary holding facility.
No matter how far Sasuke craned his neck, he couldn't see anything. He didn't have a corner cell, and whatever was happening was down the hall to his left and around a corner.
Returning to the cot, he slid back until his back was pressed against the wall. Eyelids closed and he breathed in heavily, exhaling slowly. "Whatever," he said through a sigh. It didn't matter. He didn't care. Whatever it was, it was insignificant, and it didn't concern him.
The shouts were growing louder, however, and Sasuke found that he was growing slightly irritated by the ruckus. His lips twisted into a slight scowl, and his Rinnegan peeked out as his left eye cracked open just a bit. Before he knew it, he heard the sound of someone getting shoved into the metal bars and heavy footsteps racing towards him, shouts of "Sasuke! Sasuke! Oi, Sasuke!" accompanying the pair of stomping feet. His eyes had closed again and they reopened when he heard quiet panting in front of his cell. His gaze drifted, meeting with a familiar bright combination of orange on black, and a head of blond hair.
"Naruto," he drawled in exasperation, almost without meaning to. The Uchiha raised a dark eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
Dramatically, Naruto tightly gripped the cell's bars (also with the one hand he had) and shook them, wailing out, "I'm gonna get you outta here, Sasuke! I swear it, y'hear me?"
Rolling his eyes, Sasuke just scoffed. "Forget it, moron," he replied coolly. "I'm in here for a reason. Don't even bother. You're only going to get your dumb ass in trouble, too."
"But Sasuke, you're one of the world's heroes, too! They can't just forget about that, damn it! If it weren't for you, a lot more of us would have died out there! You helped stop Kaguya!" Naruto exclaimed, and he had a point. They were all points that Sasuke had gone over with himself, but then he remembered all of the things he had done in the past. Just because he helped to save the world, it didn't mean his past crimes would be pardoned and forgotten.
"You're forgetting all of the things I did before the war," Sasuke remarked, propping his feet up on the cot. His feet were lying flat, his knees bent and legs slightly apart.
"Forget about all that crap," Naruto said, his fingers whitening from the firmness of his grip on the bars. "Forget about all of that, Sasuke! Just thi-"
Sasuke cut him off. "Leave it, Naruto." With his hand, he gestured around. "Do you see this? Do you know what this place is?"
The blond's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah."
"It's a jail," Sasuke started, but Naruto butted in before he could continue.
"I just said I knew what it was, you bastard," he grumbled.
"I didn't finish," Sasuke said, his tone icy. "It's a jail. Jails are for short-term confinement. I could be held in here for a few days, weeks, a month, anywhere up to a year, most likely less. The Council and anyone else of importance will want to make their decisions quickly. I won't be in here for long. What'll happen to me, I don't know, so leave it alone and we'll see."
Naruto didn't answer to that. He turned his head away and avoided the raven-haired boy's gaze. "Right," the blond finally said. Looking back at Sasuke, he added, "You'll get outta here, Sasuke, I promise you that. Nothin' bad's gonna happen to you; I won't let it happen!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes yet again. "Like you've got that much influence or power yet, usuratonkachi. You won't be able to do anything. Like I said, leave it alone."
He would be fine.
Before Naruto could get another word out, a small handful of shinobi came to retrieve him, telling him that his time to speak with Sasuke was up, and that he hadn't been allowed to speak to him in the first place. Naruto had gotten off easy just because he was Naruto, the village hero, and for the fact that he was stubborn, and because he had gotten lucky with Tsunade being in the area. He didn't leave without kicking and squirming, but his efforts were futile.
After all this time, Naruto was still the same. Stubborn, reckless, and stupid.
Sasuke had missed the guy - maybe.
He shook his head. Maybe, maybe not. It wasn't like it mattered. He just closed his eyes again and steadied his breathing, trying to relax. It was quiet, and he couldn't sense the presence of anyone else but the guards in the jail. If Orochimaru and Kabuto were here, he certainly would have sensed the presence of the likes of them. They weren't here. Where could they be?
He gave it a thought, concentrating quietly. A sigh pushed itself past his lips, eventually. There was only one place in Konoha that people like murderers and highly infamous missing-nin were hauled off to, and that was most likely where those to Sound-nin had been taken to.
The Konoha Strict Correctional Facility.
If not there, they would have been shipped off to the Blood Prison, another criminal containment facility, but that was just a little unlikely. With people like those, Konoha would want to deal with them.
It was definitely possible that Sasuke would be taken there as well, but if that was the case, he didn't understand why he had been put in jail instead. It seemed as if the other two had been taken to the prison immediately while he was holed up the short-term confinement. It wasn't as if he was complaining about it because he would rather be in jail than prison, but it struck him as odd. Sasuke was pretty much on the same pedestal as Orochimaru and Kabuto. Perhaps the weight of crimes were slightly different, but even so, he had been a missing-nin who had broken various laws on various occasions.
Sasuke recalled the words of one of the ANBU who had brought him here.
"We're to take you to the village's jail until further decisions have been made."
What further decisions were there to possibly make?
Perhaps there was a chance that they were really considering letting him off - still not without punishment, of course - easy. Perhaps there was a chance that whatever punishment that was waiting for him wouldn't be as harsh as initially intended because of the role he played during the war. It was a slim chance, but it was a chance all the same.
Eventually, Sasuke, too, had fallen asleep with much on his mind. It wasn't exactly five-star lodging, but what was he expecting? It was a shabby little jail.
This was all he was going to get.