Summary: Before he leaves, he says that Sasuke should take his place? Eventual SasuSaku. Rated T for language and just in case. (Inspired by my previous fanfic of shorts: Exchanging Fists)
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto (only gonna say this once for the whole story).
Prologue (anticipated to be longer than actual chapters?)
Setting: Yamanaka flower shop. 9pm.
-
"God, Sakura. You need to move on."
Sakura ignored her best friend and picked up another box: tulips this time. "Where do I put these?"
Ino rolled her eyes. "Don't try to ignore me. You're going to have to answer to yourself one of these days. Might as well answer to me right now."
Sakura raised an eyebrow and gestured towards her load.
"Ugh. Over there by the white ones." Ino leaned on the countertop and sighed as she watched Sakura rearrange some of the pots. She had invited her over as a best-friends-you-owe-me kind of a deal, but this unrequited love stuff was getting out of hand. Besides! They never had time to spend together anymore what with Sakura deciding that the best way to cope with Sasuke's lockdown-second-exile-whatever-they-call-it was to load her work schedule until she had no time to hang out let alone think anymore! Who cares if Sakura won't admit it. Everyone could tell. Everyone.
"And you say I zone out."
"Oh, be quiet," Ino jabbed. "Look at those dark circles! You look like you haven't slept in days. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been weeks since you last had a decent night's rest."
"I'm perfectly fine, Pig. Don't you have other things to worry your pretty little head over?"
"If you're suggesting that I have better things to do than worry about my best friend, Forehead, then yes, I do. But I am your best friend—" Ino blinked—"your best girl friend and if I'm not, then I am worrying because—if you haven't forgotten—I'm a medic too and it's not healthy. You're Tsunade-sama's kouhai, Sakura, for crying out loud! What kind of role model did you want to be again? Hmm?"
"It's my job."
"Well, you're becoming a slave to your job," Ino supplied the quoting gesture. "Didn't you get confessed to plenty of times during the war?"
Sakura smiled wryly at the abrupt subject change, "Those were only feelings in the moment. It happens often enough that it's documented as a side effect of psychological trauma in plenty of texts."
"Mo, Sakura. Could you just not be practical for once? Any confession is a confession!"
"That's why I'm the practical one and you're the irrational one. We clash but we also make a good team."
Ino was stuck between flattery and outrage. "Well–"
"Where do these go?"
Ino sighed. "By the miniature roses." After observing Sakura a few moments more, she slapped her hand on the counter and declared that shop was closed and Sakura was being booted out. "If you don't want to chat a bit with your best friend, then I'm sure you'd like to go back to your job," Ino declared, her nose high in the air. And with one last shove and toss of the hair, she pushed Sakura out, flipped the open-closed sign and a finger for good measure, and flounced into the back of the shop.
Sakura laughed weakly but let her face fall a bit. It was getting close to nine in the evening, a few hours before the nightshift. Ino may pretend that there wasn't a lot of work to do, but this was a last minute shipment and Ino could have used the extra help. Gomen, Sakura voiced a silent apology and trudged away. It wasn't as simple as she wanted this all to be.
She had tried dating one of the ninja who confessed. It was one of those impromptu dinner situations, so it may not have been a date at all. Either way, they had run into each other again when Sakura was dispatched from Konoha to help train medical ninja in other villages. It had been a pleasant evening, but she just couldn't. It wouldn't be fair to her or him if her heart wasn't in it, especially not to him. And Naruto. Oh god, Naruto.
It was infuriating. Sakura hated her old self, and one of the things that stuck around even after she'd become worthy enough to call herself Tsunade-sama's apprentice was her old love. It made her feel weak. She was no longer weak! She was supposed to be amazing and strong, a phenomenal role model to other aspiring kunoichi and medical ninja, and yet she couldn't shake these stupid feelings from her shattered heart.
In some ways, she had changed. She no longer loved Sasuke because he was cool or because he was good looking. In fact, she had come to understand long ago that she was more in love with his reliability, work ethic, and abilities as a ninja than with his superficial features. But curse him all the same for being so darned attractive even before he hit puberty. That's how she realized that she loved Sasuke and not Naruto, because if the only things she looked for in a guy were reliability, work ethic, and ninja abilities, then Naruto would have fit the bill any day, and Naruto still loved her after all these years.
The real problem lay in the fact that, even though he no longer haunted her thoughts all hours of the day, Uchiha Sasuke was always there in the back of her mind. She still felt so far behind her teammates and she knew that it was because she was terribly normal. She wasn't the "Son of the White Fang," or the "Last Uchiha." She wasn't the offspring of a Hokage and jinchurriki or a hero. She wasn't even worthy enough to call herself a part of the famous team 7. She was just a no-name who happened to get a bit of luck.
She couldn't kill him. It showed her just how incredibly weak she still was. She wished she had killed him, but she also knew that, if she had, she probably would have gone mad. She wouldn't have been able to handle it.
Sakura looked up at the full moon suspended in a blanket of stars. She would probably end up marrying anyway, having children, growing old with her spouse, and yet…
There would be no other. Sakura had never loved anyone as much as she loved Uchiha Sasuke, but he was forbidden and aloof. He didn't love her. In any other world, he might have. But she was in this one, and this was how it was going to be.
Sakura trudged on.
Prologue continued
Setting: Uchiha complex. Late-Evening.
-
"How have you been spending your days?"
Tempting as it was, Sasuke refrained from showing any annoyance. It was the same as last time: training, lounging, reading, wandering the complex, eating, meditating, sleeping. "Same as usual."
"And how has your training been going?"
Not very effectively. The complex is too cramped and the available training methods are not on par with what he was able to put himself under before. That and the chakra-suppressing seals on his person were irritating beyond belief. "Well."
"Have you been writing in that notebook?"
Of course. He was required to. "Yes."
"May I see it?"
He'd rather not. He'd rather see this nuisance out the door. "No."
The "psychologist," or whatever the bumbly old fool was, moved on to a different subject. When he finally left, Sasuke was relieved of the riddance. He popped the joints in his neck and stretched a little. Surprisingly, the geezer hadn't talked about that. Sasuke still didn't think he agreed with the whole "continuing the Uchiha line plan," but it wasn't like he had too much of a say in it. Tsunade had made sure that he understood that it could win them points in the trial. He still didn't understand how exactly she had appeased the rest of the ninja alliance, but it probably hadn't been easy.
A burst of familiar chakra approaching rapidly interrupted his thoughts. For once, things were getting rather lively around here. Though visitors were not exactly rare, most people stayed away from the Uchiha complex. Even before Sasuke left with Orochimaru, the buildings had claimed a "haunted" status, even more so now that he was back in the village. Thus, there wasn't much to listen to in terms of street noise. He was mildly surprised that the complex was still standing.
Sasuke leaned back and cleared his thoughts. No use moving. They'd be let in shortly; the other surrounding chakra signatures had already flared and, one by one, subsided.
As suspected, he didn't have to wait long. The Hokage—no, the former Hokage—was sliding the screen door aside in no time. She turned to the Anbu behind her and told them to sub-in. Sasuke raised his eyebrows and she gave him a pointed look.
"Sasuke."
"Tsunade-sama," he nodded, waiting for her to go on. Can she substitute the guards like that?
Noticing the slight change in Sasuke's expression, Tsunade waved a hand dismissively, "This must be a private meeting."
Inwardly, Sasuke gave a little smirk. One didn't have to know the Godaime very well to know that she did what she wanted, crappy council or no.
One of the first things he had done as soon as he was instated was to gradually lift the binding conditions on the last Uchiha. That, and arranged for Tsunade to act as a mediator. It had been almost half a year since then, but Sasuke still hadn't seen a trace of his old team or sensei. If he hadn't known any better, he might believe they were ignoring him.
Tsunade settled herself on the cushions opposite him and cleared her throat. "I've come to discuss the matter concerning the continuation of the Uchihas."
Ah.
Seeing that Sasuke was waiting for her to continue, she did, "As you know, it will be a big deal. It will bring us one step closer into bringing you out of this…exile."
Tch. House arrest wasn't so bad.
"However, there may be another option for you."
"…What do you mean," Sasuke frowned.
"You don't necessarily have to have any physical contact with any woman." Seeing the look—carefully blank as ever—on his face, Tsunade plowed on, "We found some research papers in Orochimaru's labs that we were able to utilize to perform our own experiments. We've created a way to introduce your genes to an egg without any intercourse. It's not a completed technique. It still has a low rate of success and we haven't done enough long-term data collection because it wasn't an option not so long ago, but I wanted to let you know that it is an option to take advantage of…"
Sasuke sighed. He hadn't paid that much attention to his sensei's work, but that kind of experiment sounded like something Orochimaru would do. "But will this really convince everyone else that I'm worth keeping around, then?"
Tsunade treated herself to some of the sake casually laid out. "In all honesty, it would be far more beneficial to your case if you settled down with someone…convincingly," she added as an afterthought. "Then again, the marriage can be for appearances. Your spouse could still undergo the process and you wouldn't have to actually have sex with her." Tsunade took a shot. "However," her voice took on a hint of warning, "if the process doesn't work for whatever reason, you may be encouraged to take matters into your own hands."
Sasuke mulled it over. It was a reasonable plan as far as the options he had. He was beginning to tire of this place though it hadn't been much longer than a year and a half since his house arrest had become official. In fact, he was no longer under those rules, but he wasn't so keen on leaving the complex. He'd stayed mostly a recluse, harboring his darkness and hatred in the gloom with his family's ghosts surrounding him. Sasuke helped himself to some of the alcohol. He could tell that she was about to say something that would make both of them uncomfortable.
Tsunade fiddled with her sake a bit before sighing, "Then, there's the matter of the woman in question."
Sasuke exhaled deeply, vaguely irritated. This was the part of re-earning Konoha's trust that he detested, but unfortunately completely understood. Marrying and starting a family would be a huge plus, but it didn't make the process any easier. "They'll probably assign a random girl they can trust, correct?"
"Actually, I'm more open to letting you decide."
Sasuke's eyes shot over to meet Tsunade's. That kind of offer could only point to one girl in question. "Do you really still have that kind of authority?"
She shrugged and let Sasuke think it over as she busied herself with drink.
He frowned. The Hyuuga would definitely protest if he were to marry any girl from their line. And, last time Sasuke checked, Hinata was still in love with Naruto, and her little sister was…no, the Hyuugas were out. Ino was probably already promised to Shikamaru or Chouji, depending on whom she ended up choosing. TenTen didn't have a clan to speak of, but Sasuke doubted they were compatible. The other generations would probably annoy him the most. No, of all the girls Sasuke knew of in Konoha, there was only one who understood him best and had an almost sickening loyalty and sense of duty. "Would they really be okay with that? She failed to restrain me last time. I'm sure Kakashi reported the incident."
"Don't worry about the elders right now," Tsunade waved a hand. "Mind you, I haven't talked to her about this, but you probably will not be paired with her if you do not choose."
"…How much time do I have."
"Sooner than later, Sasuke. Preferably before I leave. I can't escape my office very often these days." She grinned.
Right. "Her office." Sasuke wondered how much she really did if that dobe was the one who was supposed to go through mounds of paperwork.
Tsunade was used to defying the elders. It had been slower going than she wanted, as she had confided to him on an earlier occasion, but she'd given him more opportunities than others. Sasuke didn't mind that he was being pulled into her trust game. He recognized that killing her now wouldn't guarantee him his spot as Hokage anyway. While he hated to admit it, her visits gave him subjects other than hatred to think about...which was a good thing in itself because–... Sasuke killed that thought.
He leaned his cheek on a hand. "I'm not going to force her into anything. You should ask for her consent first…" Seeing the look on Tsunade's face, he snapped, "What."
"Oh, nothing. I'm just a bit pleasantly surprised is all," Tsunade waved a hand and hid her smile behind a shot. "I'll be sure to discuss this with her."
Sasuke nodded. "You'll be taking your leave then?"
Tsunade nodded and made as if to stand up.
"How much does he really know?"
She stiffened slightly and made her way to the door. "I want Sakura to make this decision without his pressure on her. If she wants to tell him herself, she has every right to." The former Hokage put her oiled cloak on, "Who knows? Naruto may be more helpful than not." And with that, she was gone in the midst of the rainstorm.
Sasuke sighed. This was so much more complicated than he wanted it to be.
Two-week timeskip
Setting: still the Uchiha complex. roughly 2 weeks later. almost midnight.
-
When would it stop raining? Sasuke stared indifferently out the open screen door.
The smell of rain wafted in with the late-spring chill, cooling his skin after an especially long workout. There had been no word from Tsunade since the last time she'd visited a couple weeks ago. Sasuke was a bit apprehensive. As much as he hated himself for choosing this approach to his relationship with Konoha, he hadn't yet convinced himself that it would be better for him if he had executed one of the several alternative plans he'd concocted. He'd never truly made up his mind and just went with what went on around him. So far, time hadn't given him much reason to regret his indifference so far.
He had been surprised to wake up in the Konoha hospital. He would have thought he'd either be dead or strapped down in an interrogation cell. He found out later that that was what was supposed to happen, or rather, that that was what everyone was made to believe. When he was well enough to move around by himself, they released him into the old Uchiha complex which was, surprisingly, aired out and not too worn down. Kakashi had visited a few times, but had been assigned on a mission and was thus absent for some time now. Sakura he had not felt nearby in a while, but when she did come close, she was always more weary than the last. He didn't much care for any other visitors. The Anbu stationed around the complex didn't either. He often felt Naruto's presence nearby, but those times occurred less and less often. Whenever he was around, though, Sasuke would then feel hatred and coldness well back up in his heart. He had abandoned Konoha for the express purpose of getting stronger. When he saw his old team two years after he left, he had felt incredibly powerful then. But when they'd met once more in the war, Naruto was once again ahead of him. Unaccepta– Sasuke shook his head to clear his thoughts.
By this time, Sasuke assumed that Sakura had already heard the plan that was supposed to take place in the very near future. It was a subject that haunted his thoughts constantly through most hours of the day. He wasn't sure if he would be more relieved to marry his former teammate or another random girl. Training offered the only relief to Sasuke's active and now paranoid mind…to his disgust.
He was finally getting around to drifting off, when his entire being snapped to attention. He leapt out of his futon and whirled around to face his door.
Slowly, quietly, the screen slid to the side to reveal a figure wrapped in a water-soaked cloak, face hidden by the official hat worn only by Hokage. The rustle of the paper strips as the hat was pulled aside seemed a thousand times louder than the pounding rain on the roof as wild, blonde hair and a pair of serious blue came into sight.
The most the two could see of each other, was each other's vague, black shape. Their eyes occasionally caught the flickering light from the small torch thrust into the wall. A cliché flash of lightning gave them an instant's view of each other before they were again thrust into darkness.
How long they stood and stared at each other's forms, they didn't know. Naruto finally broke the silence, lowered his gaze to the floorboards and sighed heavily—deeper than Sasuke ever remembered his rival doing so—and scratched at the nape of his neck.
That simple action cut the tension in an instant and began a different kind of tension, an irritation. Sasuke was getting impatient and irritable, and the bloodlust was—he held his tongue because he wasn't stupid enough to not realize that something was going on. Don't suppose the dobe came all the way out here to talk about Sakura, did he?
Naruto tilted his head up and gave Sasuke an annoyed glare and looked to the torch on the wall. With a jolt, Sasuke realized that Naruto looked tired. Was this really just about their teammate? Luckily, he didn't have to wait much longer for his answer.
"Neh, teme."
Sasuke didn't grace him with an answer.
Naruto took a step forwards and was suddenly surrounded by the guards. Sasuke blinked. He'd forgotten about them.
"Get the hell off of me! It's not like Sasuke-teme'll hurt me," Naruto shoved some of the more reluctant off. "Taku…"
He suddenly had an idea. Sasuke could tell because Naruto's whole being sort of perked up like the old dobe the Uchiha was used to. But what was that mood before…?
"You can stay right where you are. You can be my witnesses!"
They hesitated as if asking what he meant.
Naruto grinned and undid the clasp on his cloak. The guards tensed, then everyone besides Naruto frowned in confusion.
Underneath the dripping mass of cloth were the formal Hokage robes.
Sasuke growled under his breath. "If you thought it would be a good idea to show off how you look in your official garb, then you–"
"What the hell, teme," Naruto cut him off, "Just chill, won't you?" and began shrugging out of the robe—why the hell is he stripping—until he was left standing in his usual orange and black.
Oh...wait, why? "Wha–…" Sasuke was now thoroughly perplexed.
Before the guards could react, Naruto had draped the robe around Sasuke's shoulders and shoved the Hokage hat onto Sasuke's head, the proximity reminiscent to the time Sasuke had attempted to kill him so long ago. "I have somewhere to be. It'll be a while until I can come back, but keep these for me until I return."
Sasuke gripped the woven straw by the peak and yanked it off his head. He tried to shove it back at Naruto, furious. You trying to make fun of me, you bastard?
Naruto turned the throw into a fist-bump, the peak of the hat between his knuckles and Sasuke's palm. "You still want to be Hokage, right?"
Sasuke immediately stopped, a frown deepening on his face.
"Of course you do, dattebayo! And I'm telling you to keep these for me until I get back. Sayonara, Hokage-sama!" Naruto laughed. And then the sliding door opened and closed and the sound or rainfall seemingly came back into existence.
"Naruto!" Sasuke ran to the screen and slammed it open, gripping the hat so tightly that it almost crumbled in his hands. All his searching eyes found was the dark, the wind and rain.
Author's note: Misa-kike-chi, here! ^^ This will be my first attempt at writing a multi-chapter fanfiction with an actual, complex plot. R&R plz&ty!
Thank you to those who looked out for this story and supported me in my other writing ambitions. Sorry it's taken so long, but since this is a longer story I wanted to get a head start to avoid writer's block in the future! (I'm not quite sure where I'm going with the plot at this point, but I have a general idea...I also wanted to see if I could generate any interest in this type of twist...and also because the story is almost over :0 )