Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, even if I wanted to. XD
Prologue
Itachi was running, and he kept running for as long as his feet can still feel the ground. But someone was running after him. Someone perplexed, anxious, and curious. Someone who wanted answers - Sasuke Uchiha, his younger brother. It was in the middle of the Fourth Shinobi World War and Itachi already gained control of his mind and body after the Impure World Resurrection was used to bring him back.
He'd been travelling for three days already, when he finally gave in to answering Sasuke's questions. They sat down on a tree in the forest where they were running. "Is it all true? Did the elders really force you to eliminate the clan?" asked the younger Uchiha. "Yes, it is true. I killed them to prevent war between our clan and Konohagakure. To prevent innocent people from being killed." Itachi answered. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why couldn't you just return and tell everyone the truth?" shouted Sasuke.
"I…wanted you to get stronger, I wanted to persuade you to become powerful and to protect the people left in the village who love and care about you."
"…"
"But I never expected you to learn and strive from hatred. And that's what I regret about the most. Causing you to become like this and defect from Konoha."
"So, do you know who Tobi really is?" said Sasuke calmly.
"I don't know. But there are a few things I know that can be used against them against the war. I think I should also ask a few questions. Why are you helping the Akatsuki? By now, I think you know that I only joined to spy on them from the inside." said Itachi ever so coolly.
"It is my goal to destroy Konoha and to kill everyone who stands in my way of doing so."
"If I do, will you kill me?"
"Huh?" Sasuke was quite shocked.
"I know you want to purify the name of the Uchiha, but there are other methods of doing this. Tobi and Kabuto are just using you."
"Tobi and Kabuto? What could they possibly do to harm me?"
"Tobi and Kabuto have an agreement. Kabuto will help Akatsuki in the war by reviving dead and powerful shinobi using the Impure World Resurrection. Which explains why Madara Uchiha, me, and other members of Akatsuki were revived. In return…Tobi will hand over your body to Kabuto. Like Orochimaru, he believes that he can achieve immortality by changing bodies from time to time. And who was Orochimaru's ideal container? You."
"Then how can I cleanse the name of the Uchiha?" demandingly asking his older brother.
"By gaining their trust. Then by restoring our clan and helping Konoha with the new Uchiha."
"How about you then? What will you do after this is all over." asked Sasuke.
"I'm not sure if I'll survive this war. According to my research, there's a rough chance that the Allied Shinobi Forces will be able to kill Madara, Tobi, and the others. Especially Madara, the Five Kages are currently fighting him simultaneously but he's become exceptionally more powerful now with the Rinnegan and Wood Release. And Tobi now controls his own six paths, each being a jinchuriki. So the only way might be for me to defeat Kabuto, to deactivate the jutsu."
"But that means…!"
"Yes, if he goes down then Madara and I will too. I'll most likely die again."
"There has to be another way!"
"No, Sasuke. I knew that this might happen one day. You and only you can bring the clan back. That's why I want you to-." An explosion interrupted Itachi.
"KABUTO! Sasuke, I must request your help to defeat Kabuto then I'll talk to you about what you need to know. Deal?" said Itachi.
"Hn." was his younger brother's reply with a nod of his head.
The Allied Shinobi Forces had many camps scattered in all the country boundaries and the hidden villages themselves. One of which in Fire Country, a medic was travelling around from tent to tent healing the injured and the sick nin that were involved in nearby attacks. Said medic had short, pink hair, reaching a few centimetres below her shoulders. Her bright eyes were tinted lightly with a soft green, burning with the fire of determination. Her apron-skirt stained with bright red blood from the victims of the brutal war. And her large forehead was slightly scratched and sweaty. Sakura Haruno, considered by many as the third greatest medic in Fire Country behind only Shizune and the Godaime Hokage herself, Tsunade.
Sakura tried to heal as many as possible while they had the time for having retreated for a while. She was healing a young genin with minor bruises when she was interrupted by Shizune. "Sakura-san, I need you to look at a certain patient with me. Now." Sakura was startled, "What injury could the patient must have for both of us to heal them?" she asked herself. Shizune led her to a special tent, where some of the most important shinobi rested. As soon as she saw where Shizune led her to or rather to whom Shizune led her to, she realized that what was peculiar was not the injury but who had the injury.
"B-but, how is this possible?" asked the pinkette.
"It had seemed that he was resurrected by Kabuto Yakushi." replied the Godaime's assistant.
"Still…"
Both of the medics were still trying to think of possible methods of how their situation came to be, for the injured shinobi lying unconscious in front of them was a very alive, very human, and somehow very young Akasuna no Sasori.
"According to the information we gathered and some eye witnesses, his revived grandmother, Lady Chiyo, tried to give him a human body after he was affected by a genjutsu that released his soul from the Edo Tensei. It was the only way to keep him alive. But it wasn't very successful since Kabuto was still in control of Chiyo, he tried to stop it while thinking that Sasori wasn't useful anymore and the fact that he was showing signs of…defection." said Shizune.
"Defection? But why would he defect against Akatsuki?"
"Some say because Nagato wasn't in control of the organization anymore, he did not believe nor he wanted to support Tobi's ambitions."
"So now that he's not a part of the Akatsuki, he's an ally?"
"Temari said that he came to Sunagakure himself to talk to the Kazekage and become an ally even though he was already injured. Gaara was busy in the battlefield at the moment so Suna's high ranks and interrogation team talked to him. He's one of us now, but he needs an escort at all times with him."
"And I'm here because…?"
"You and I will heal him of his injuries and you will be his escort for 72 hours, that includes the time consumed while he's unconscious."
"WHAT THE HECK! How am I supposed to do that when I'm probably the reason why he died? How can I even talk to him?"
"Well then you just have to pray that he doesn't wake up in three days." Shizune replied with a grin on her face.
"Does Tsunade-sama already know about this?"asked Sakura.
"Yes. But since she's battling Madara Uchiha with the other Kage, she can't attend to him herself, considering he's background status." said Shizune.
Sakura and Shizune then started to heal the puppet master. Healing all his cuts and bruises first. They then checked for any signs of internal injuries, and healed a fracture on his arm. They then bandaged all his wounds carefully and quickly, to avoid infections. After healing him, Shizune left them in the tent to let both of them rest.
"Uh…uh" grumbled the red head.
"Ah, you're finally waking up! Thank Kami!" jubilantly proclaimed the pinkette that was watching him.
"Whe-where am I?"
"You're in the Fire Country Camp of the Allied Shinobi Forces." was the medic's reply.
Sasori sat up from his lying position and looked at the figure that was wiping sweat from the sides of his face. He saw undoubtedly familiar light pink hair, beautiful light green eyes and a simple smile etched upon the medic's face.
"Wait. You seem familiar. Aren't you Sakura from Konohagakure?"
"Aa." said Sakura with a soft smile while very subtle pink tinted her cheeks. She was embarrassed not merely by the fact that he recognized her but because he probably already realized that she was with his grandmother when he died and she was half of the people who caused his demise.
Sakura was panicked by the serious and bored look Sasori gave her. "Ahahaha, you probably remembered me. But, please don't kill me though! I know you might want revenge but I can tell you that is most certainly not a good path to follow, considering the fact that I know someone who chose that road and ended up being an international criminal which you already are-were! I mean were because I heard you've suddenl-"
"Will you shut up." said Sasori commandingly that was, as expected, effective with the slight glare he gave her.
"I have to go." said Sasori while trying to stand up but Sakura held him down.
"I'm sorry, but you are still not in the proper condition to leave the camp. You still need to rest for a minimum of two days." 24 hours had passed since Shizune gave her the assignment and even though how stubborn she was, she had to oblige because Shizune was actually given the power to tell her what to do because even though they weren't in the same division, she was still after all, a medical-nin.
"And whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me during the period of two days."
Sakura then realized that Sasori was staring at her.
"It is rude to stare, ya know."
"Oh yeah, sorry. It's just that you're hair is strangely unique. But I've seen more peculiar cases, of course."
Sakura scowled. "Whatever. Just don't forget, I'll be watching you." She then gave Sasori a short glare.
Sasori smirked then stared at the tent's opening that serves as the entrance and the exit. "Don't worry, I have no relations nor ambitions that may be shared with Tobi to betray the Allied Shinobi Forces. If there's anything you should worry about, it's probably the stalkers that keep on peeping inside this tent."
Sakura turned crimson red and nearly exploded upon hearing Sasori's last remark. "What do you mean 'stalkers'? I, Sakura Haruno, do not have stalkers!"
Sasori's smirk grew wider. "Then what do you call the few shinobi that have been staring at you during our entire conversation through the tent's entrance?"
Sakura tried her best to calm down and respond in a witty way. "Maybe they're just checking up on me, knowing the fact that the person I am talking to is a former member of a group composed of S-rank criminals that are probably the whole cause of this war."
Sasori's stern facial expression returned. "You may have a point there. Anyway, I don't think I would be capable of socializing with anyone within the two day period we have, so I'll just have to stay here."
Sakura nodded in reply. "By the way, since you're reincarnated and now have a new body, how old are you?"
Sasori looked sternly at Sakura before answering the question. "It seems that my body is currently about fifteen or sixteen years old but my mind and soul is about thirty five years of age. So basically, I'm more mature than what I look like."
Sakura just nodded her head while still wondering why she asked the question in the first place.
After that, they grew slightly fond of each other but to both of them, Sasori was still a stoic and serious man who had absolutely no care for any emotions besides maybe disappointment, anger, and impatience.
"Tsukuyomi!" cried Itachi as he cast the genjutsu upon Kabuto. Kabuto tried to resist at first, but the Uchiha Prodigy's control and power upon the genjutsu remained dominant. After a few minutes which seemed days to the victim, Itachi stopped.
"Sasuke, I think it's done. We've defeated him and now I know enough information about the Edo Tensei. Let's go." said Itachi as he walked out of the cave where Kabuto was laying.
"Hn. Where are we going?" asked Sasuke, following his brother.
"We need to talk to the Hokage."
"As far as I know, the Five Kage are combating against Madara Uchiha."
"Hn."
"Wait. Now that we've defeated Kabuto, how will the Edo Tensei work?"
"I'll explain everything when we talk to the Hokage. Don't let your guard down, we might face off Madara Uchiha."
Sasuke's eyes widened a bit. "Hn."
"He's still hasn't given up yet." said the Kazekage.
"It's either we directly kill him or we seal him." said the Mizukage.
"In either case, it will be difficult doing so. His chakra reserves are still high." said the Hokage.
"The only way we'll do this is through teamwork." said the Tsuchikage.
The Five Kage all nodded in response and continued their battle against Madara Uchiha.
After a few hours, the Uchiha Brothers arrived at the vicinity of the battle of the Five Kage and Madara Uchiha. The Five Kage were confused and shocked two see them after all, Uchiha Itachi was already dead and Uchiha Sasuke has attacked them before in the Summit.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi. Long time no see." said the Godaime Hokage.
"Hn. Let's get this over with, I need to talk to you." said Itachi.
Tsunade nodded in reply. "I've heard your reasons for your recent actions. No need to explain that, what needs to be explained is your apparent teamwork with your brother and the actions that you will do here. As you can see, were currently busy." She already knew the reason behind the massacre.
The other Kage were speechless until the Sandaime Tsuchikage broke the silence while evading attacks from Madara. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TSUNADE? I'm sure you already know what happened in the Summit! How can you entertain these two, considering the fact that they're both criminals?"
"We can explain later for now, were here to help." said Itachi while his brother nodded in assurance.
"We don't want your help, we don't really trust you." said the Raikage.
"No. Let them help, I trust them." said Tsunade.
"If she does, then I will also trust them." said Gaara.
"Fine!" cried the Tsuchikage.
"This will be fun." shouted Madara.
With the help of Itachi and Sasuke they were able to seal Madara Uchiha by the use of the Sword of Totsuka. They then proceeded to go to camp to get their well deserved rests.
"Itachi, Sasuke. Come with me, I'll find room for you to rest but don't associate with others too much. Other people might assume unwanted statements and consequences. I'll call for Shizune." said Tsunade with caution. She then talked to a ninja and told him to ask Shizune to meet her. The ninja nodded in understanding.
Both men nodded in agreement and started to look around the camp. Sasuke saw a few familiar faces, but he did not want to be seen and acknowledged by them yet.
Tsunade led them to a fairly roomy tent. Shizune came in a few moments later and her eyes widened slightly upon seeing the brothers. Tsunade gave her a commanding glare and nodded.
Shizune suddenly grinned. "I see, more company I guess."
Tsunade smirked. "You know what to do." Shizune was on her way out of the tent when a voice broke the silence
"Wait, Hokage-sama. What do you mean more?" asked Itachi with a small frown etched on his face.
"I'll show you. Shizune, tell our first guest to see us here."
"Okay, Tsunade-sama. But should his escort come as well?"
Tsunade grinned. "Sure, why not."
Sasuke and Itachi frowned in confusion. A few moments later, a voice from outside the tent was asking for permission to come in.
"Tsunade-sama, may we come in?" said a voice, familiar to Sasuke.
"Yes." replied the Hokage.
Three pairs of eyes widened when the pair Shizune was talking about entered the tent. One was from Itachi, surprised but slightly joyed to see Akasuna no Sasori. His surprise was quickly covered by his smirk. The second was from Sasuke shocked to see Sasori with Sakura holding her stretched hand behind Sasori's, as if supporting him. A mixed emotions started to boil inside him, slight anger, slight confusion, slight disappointment, and slight jealousy. And the last was from Sakura, she didn't expect that this was the day that her wish would finally come true. The day that Sasuke would come back, especially because they were in the middle of a shinobi war and he was standing there beside his supposed-to-be-dead brother. Sasori, however, remained stoic.
"Tsunade-sama, I-I think I should leave you for now. If you need me, I'll be with Kakashi-sensei." said Sakura as she walked out.
Tsunade thought about stopping her, but she didn't because she understood that her pupil needed some time alone to cope with what she just saw. "Okay. If you need me, I'll just be talking here with these men."
Sakura walked out of the tent and ran to her tent with tears in her eyes. Karin saw her running and wondered what that was about. After all, the known medic was in love with Sasuke. Karin, of course, had given up on Sasuke for almost killing her but this caused her to think that maybe Sakura was desperate for still having hope for Sasuke or she really loved him with unconditional love.
Sakura sat on the far corner of the tent with her knees close to her chest. She crossed her arms and placed them with her head on top of her knees and cried quietly for half an hour. She wasn't sure what she was feeling. She was relieved and happy but she was confused and doubtful. "So what if he's back? Everything will be back to normal, just as it always has. He'll just keep on hurting me and call me weak." thought Sakura. After that she convinced herself to not push Sasuke to be with her if he doesn't want to because maybe she'll just end up hurt again.
"Now, we can talk in peace." said Tsunade.
"Hn." Itachi nodded and began to explain everything. "As you know, the Edo Tensei is a very powerful jutsu. Not even the user's death can cause it to be stopped. Sasuke and I battled Kabuto and defeated him without killing him and I cast Tsukuyomi on him to get some information."
Tsunade and Sasori nodded in understanding and Itachi continued. "I have discovered that now that I made Kabuto release the jutsu, the effects of the Edo Tensei will gradually fade. But the rate of deactivation will be based upon the chakra reserves of the people resurrected and since most of the resurrected ninja are very powerful, it will take some time before the deactivation is finished."
"In short, the war won't be over yet anytime soon." said Sasori, calmly.
"Yes. As for me, I have about a few months up to a year to remain here." said Itachi.
"So using fuinjutsu would probably be the best techniques to use against the resurrected shinobi." Sasuke said softly, almost in a whisper.
Itachi looked at Sasori. "Hn. In Sasori's case however, he was almost killed or rather already killed for the second time by my genjutsu. But Chiyo gave up her life to heal you saying that she would rather die by letting you live and giving you free will than being controlled by Kabuto but-"
"But it wasn't actually successful and I was given a human body." Sasori interrupted.
"Aa."
"Why were you trying to kill him with genjutsu?" Tsunade asked Itachi.
"We tried to leak some information but Kabuto controlled me and tried to kill him." answered Itachi.
"So all that's left is Tobi, the Zetsu clones, and other resurrected shinobi." said Sasori.
Everyone else nodded. "Okay, I'll leave all of you to rest now. Sasori, I'll call your escort to pick you up and check up on you" said Tsunade as she walked out of the tent. Sasuke felt that strange feeling again.
"Why can't you just lead me to my resting place?" asked an impatient Sasori.
"Did it occur to you that maybe I would want to talk to my apprentice, alone?" answered Tsunade.
"Fine." replied a slightly irritated Sasori.
Sakura wiped the tears from her face and closed her eyes for a minute to try to remove the reddish color. Even after closing her eyes, small drops of tears fell onto her cheeks. She wiped them with her wrist and tried her best to put on a great smile.
"Sakura, are you okay?" said Tsunade, slightly surprising her pupil from behind.
"Of course I am, Tsunade-sama." answered Sakura without turning back.
"I'm sorry I didn't warn you that he was back. I should've known you wouldn't take it a hundred percent well."
"No. You don't have to apologize, I'm ha-happy that he's back…Has Naruto returned?"
Tsunade looked at the ground. "No, he hasn't yet. He's still battling with Tobi."
Sakura turned to face Tsunade. "I see."
"Well, like Sasori, they're on our side now."
"Do the other Kage and the commanders already know about this?"
"The Kage already agreed that the two will be our allies. They can be great advantages since they know a lot about the Akatsuki's strategies and Tobi might still don't know that Sasuke has seen the light, so we have the element of surprise on our side."
Sakura just nodded.
Tsunade directly faced Sakura. "Sakura, are you ready to actually talk to him yet?"
Sakura gazed at the ground. "I guess not yet, not without Naruto and Kakashi-sensei by my side."
Tsunade nodded in understanding and captured Sakura in a light and comforting embrace. "Okay, but would you mind if you will be Akasuna's escort for the rest of this whole stupid war? Don't worry, I'll assign someone else when you have battles by division."
Sakura nodded. "It's okay, I'll take care of him for the time being. But how about Itachi and Sasuke? They're both former Akatsuki members so why won't they have someone to walk and hang around with?"
"The difference is Akasuna's body. Since before he was reincarnated, he didn't have a human body we still don't know if there would be side effects regarding Chiyo's sacrifice. His health is on the line and I'm assigning you this since you can easily heal him or protect him in both situations."
Sakura looked at Tsunade in the eyes. "Understood." They walked to the Uchiha Brothers' tent together.
"Sasori, how long have you been here?" asked a curious Itachi.
"Three days. Sakura Haruno has been my 'personal medic' if that's the proper way of saying it. I heard she was your brother's teammate." Sasori said then turned to look at Sasuke.
Sasuke gave Sasori a small scowl. "Yes, she was."
"I've also heard other things about your small friendship." said Sasori mockingly.
"That is none of your business!" shouted Sasuke as the Hokage and Sakura came in.
"I guess you've acquainted each other." said Tsunade amusingly.
Sasuke turned away. "Hn." Itachi made a very rare smile at the happenings in the tent.
"Anyway…" said Tsunade. "Sakura, join Akasuna no Sasori in his or rather your tent." Sasuke cringed at the statement.
"Uh. Tsunade-sama!" said a blushing and embarrassed Sakura.
"What?" asked a rather confused Tsunade. "Oh…oh! Yeah, it is kinda different saying it like that but don't worry. No malice." said a grinning Tsunade while scratching her head out of realization. "Oh. I almost forgot! The Five Kage have decided that tomorrow, we will have a meeting with the high ranks to…introduce you three."
Sasori whispered to Sakura. "Does that imply that we will be introduced as members of the Allied Shinobi Forces?" Sakura replied with a bearly audible "Yes."
"Tsunade-sama. Will he be attending the meeting alone or do I have to accompany him?" said Sakura as she pointed at Sasori. He gave her a soft glare.
"No. I guess, you can rest for a while then. Anyways, Shizune will be part of the meeting. I'll just ask her to keep an eye out for him." Sakura nodded.
"Okay, have a nice rest." said Tsunade as she exited the tent followed by Sakura and the puppet master.
The next day Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi, and Akasuna no Sasori were introduced to the division heads of their alliance. They became a great advantage in the war, not only in the battlefield but in terms of strategies. Eventually, the Allied Shinobi Forces became triumphant in the Fourth Shinobi World War. Many were considered heroes including the Konoha 11 or finally, Konoha 12 since the return of Uchiha Sasuke. Itachi survived the after effects of the Edo Tensei even after most of the reincarnated shinobi were sealed due to the efforts of Tsunade after creating a special jutsu and applying it to Itachi, extending his life. Almost the same how she manages to keep her youthful look despite her age.
Some shinobi were promoted to higher ranks. Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara, and Sai, were promoted as Jonin. Sasuke and Naruto were promoted as Chunin since Sasuke was still a Genin when he became a rogue nin and Naruto truly deserved to be promoted for saving Konoha in more than one occasion.
This is one of my first fanfics ever so please Review!
