[Ice Will Melt]
by: Shreedin
In which Sasuke and Sakura come across the unexpected. "A child?" Sakura breathed incredulously. "But no one was said to have survived..." SasuSaku AU twoshot.
Background: The following story takes place in an Alternate Universe where Sasuke never left Konoha. Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and the rest of their generation are all 18 to 19 years old and jounin.
Part 1 of 2
The two shinobi were like wraiths in the moonlight, quickly travelling through the trees to their destination. Their cloaks flapped with their speed and their footfalls made no sound. Up ahead there was smoke and Sakura's mind went back to the moment they had been deployed on this dreadful mission.
Earlier That Day
"All of you, sit," Tsunade said, her eyes glinting with stress, and all the jounin before her took their seats in the chairs that had been set up in the Hokage's office. "I've summoned you all here today because there has been a very serious advancement in the war between Sunagakure and Otogakure," the Godaime Hokage said, then put her head into her hands, holding her palms over her eyes. Sakura wanted to do nothing more than put a soothing hand on her mentor's back, but controlled the comforting impulse in the presence of her peers.
"Tsunade-sama?" Shikamaru probed after a moment of silence. Everyone in the room was tense. The war between Sand and Sound had been waged just two weeks prior, and was in full blaze now. Upon Tsunade's stance of neutrality, she had gotten Gaara to agree not to use the Land of Fire as their battle ground - as, geographically, the Land of Fire was right between the opposing countries - but the same could not be said of Orochimaru.
"Otogakure has attacked a squad of Suna-nin within our borders. Following our treaty with Sunagakure, the Suna-nin took the defensive to limit the amount of damage to the civilian village they were in at the time," Tsunade said, and everyone tensed. It was bad enough that they were fighting in their borders, but to add that they'd fought a battle in the middle of a civilian village of a neutral country was absolutely unfathomable and unacceptable. "Unfortunately, the Oto-nin were quite persistent and the damage was done." From under his breath, Kakashi, standing along the wall next to Gai and Asuma, let out an uncharacteristic curse.
"How much damage, Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura said tentatively, yet assertively, needing to know what was going on. Everyone was on high alert, waiting anxiously for their leader's answer.
"Five small villages were destroyed. All the Suna-nin were killed, and there were no reports of civilian survivors," Tsunade said grimly. At this revelation, Ino's face fell drastically and she leaned against the Nara prodigy for support as the news sunk in. Naruto reached out and grasped Sakura's hand comfortingly, who placed her head on Sasuke's shoulder, a tormented expression on her face. The older jounin bowed their heads, accustomed to this kind of distressing news that came hand-in-hand with war.
No survivors. There had been innocent blood shed in those five villages, women and children included. "We can't just sit back and watch them do this to our country!" Naruto said sternly from his seat, gripping Sakura's hand so tightly she was losing feeling in her fingers, not that either of them could tell, what with all the other emotions coursing through their bodies. "We have to do something!"
Tsunade looked sharply at the blond jinchuuriki. "I agree." An audible gasp circulated around the room and everyone's eyes were trained on their Hokage. Tsunade had been adamant on Konoha's neutrality, and had given no previous indication that her stance on the subject would change, not even the two times this had happened before. "Listen to me. I am about to deploy all of you on absolutely crucial missions that will determine Konoha's stance on the war. Are all of you willing to accept this mission unconditionally?" Her eyes landed on every face in the room and her jounin sat up a little straighter.
"Hai, Hokage-sama," they replied in unison.
Tsunade took a deep breath, steeling herself. "Each of you will be placed on a team of my choosing, then each team will be deployed to one of the five villages that were destroyed in crossfire. Once in your specified village, you are to collect the cilivian bodies, " Tsunade tried not to flinch as she said those two words, "and send them back here using the body transportation tags we have prepared for this sole purpose. If you come across any Konoha shinobi bodies, you are to mark them with a Konoha symbol on the back of their right hand and send them back using a tag."
Tsunade shut her eyes for a moment, then reopened them with a newfound fierceness. "If a single Leaf shinobi's body is produced from the rubble, Konoha will declare war against Otogakure and our stance of neutrality will be compromised."
There was silence. The weight of the situation had finally descended upon everyone in the room, and no one said a word. Konoha's entry into the war would make Otogakure feel threatened and they would surely ally with another country. If it became a chain of events, all the other shinobi villages would enter the war and it would become a full-scale, world war.
Kakashi was the first to recover, as level-headed as always in such situations. "...Hai, Tsunade-sama."
"Good. I'm going to break you up into teams now. Naruto, Kakashi, you two will be deployed to Village One. Neji, Tenten, to Village Two. Asuma, Kurenai, Village Three. Choji, Shikamaru, you will go to Village Four. And Sakura and Sasuke, you two will be deployed to Village Five. The rest of you will stay and handle the bodies that will be coming back. Now go," Tsunade stood up. "And remember that those villages are still an open battlefield. The whereabouts of the Oto-nin team is unknown as of this moment. They could have returned to their country, they could have not and my still be in the villages. Take caution; do not attack unless attacked, and absolutely do not provoke a fight. Until we discover a Leaf shinobi body, Konoha is a neutral country."
"Hai." And they left.
"Sakura," Sasuke whispered urgently, travelling a few feet ahead, "We're approaching the village."
In response, Sakura nodded tersely, knowing Sasuke's Sharingan could see more effectively in the dead of night as it was. She steeled herself for the sight they were about to come across, and imagined the remains of a once thriving civilian village, littered with bloody and broken bodies and craters from explosions. Unconsciously, she moved behind Sasuke ever so slightly.
The two Konoha jounin landed on the forest floor, on the edge of the village. The smoke was everywhere; clouding her vision and making her nostrils flare in pain. Sakura shivered under the cloak as they made their way down the main road, their black cloaks blending into the night.
The buildings were empty shells of what they were once before, burned and charred from the inside out. There were blood splatters along the still-standing solid rock walls, although there were no bodies on the road.
"Sasuke, there's no one here," Sakura observed aloud, scanning the road ahead.
Sasuke jerked his head towards a collapsed storefront. "Inside."
The pink-hair kunoichi nodded and followed her teammate into the building, the smell of ash overpowering all her other senses and she gagged minutely, coming to stand next to Sasuke, who had stopped dead in the doorway to another room, his Sharingan eyes flashing.
Civilian bodies were not supposed to look like that, ever. It took all of Sakura not to fall to the ground, shrivel up, and cry. It was a man, woman, and child, wearing simple cotton shirts and pants covered in their own dried blood. From the looks of it, they had been caught by an exploding tag, as the kunai it had once been attached to was still lodged in the ground in the middle of the room.
Sakura took a small step towards the fallen family, leaning over their bodies and closing their eyes with two fingers. She was too stricken to sob. Sasuke approached them next, extracting three tags from underneath his cloak and placing them firmly on each of their chests. In a matter of seconds the bodies had disappeared from the room and sent back to Konoha, where they'd be cleaned and buried respectfully.
Sakura hadn't realized she'd been staring at the ground until she saw feet standing in front of her. Slowly, she brought her eyes up to meet Sasuke's crimson gaze. "Come on, Sakura," he said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. At the simple touch, Sakura broke and flung her arms around Sasuke's torso, the image of the little child's mangled body in the forefront of her mind. To her surprise and comfort, Sasuke's arms slowly encircled her.
"She shouldn't have sent me. I can't handle this, Sasuke. They killed children."
"We have to do this," Sasuke said, releasing his teammate. Sakura closed her eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths and knowing that it was too late to go back now. She opened her eyes and nodded at Sasuke, who led them back out into the street and into another building.
They continued like this, silently retrieving the bodies of the innocent as they made their way through the devastated village. To keep herself sane, Sakura closed the eyes of every single one of the victims, breathing quick prayers for them to any kami that was listening before sending them back to Konoha. She detached herself from the levity of the situation, focusing all her concentration on doing her duty, so much so that she almost didn't notice the huge explosion that rung out in the street outside the building they were currently scanning.
Her bright green eyes locked with Sasuke's and she nodded, running out of the building first to assess the situation as Sasuke finished placing tags on the rest of the bodies within.
A cloud of dust had risen about half a mile away from her location, and she stayed within the safety of the shadows as she approached, remembering Tsunade's words. Do not attack unless attacked.
There were voices. "...around here somewhere."
"Did he say where?"
"Of course he didn't. We need to scour the area and get what we came here for."
By now the group of men had walked out into the open air, out of the cloud of dust they had stirred. From their forehead protectors Sakura could see that they were Oto-nin. She pulled out a kunai from her pack, slinking further into the shadows and watching.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was finishing up tagging the corpses around him. There was so much blood, so many bodies. It brought him back to the moment when his own world had come crashing down around him. The sight before him was hitting too close to home, and it felt like he was losing his own family all over again.
He had just finished placing a tag on a woman who looked hauntingly like his mother when he heard a noise coming from behind him. He swiftly turned around, crouched and ready with a kunai. His Sharingan locked on a wall panel, and he cautiously approached.
What was that noise? Was it... whimpering? In one flash of movement, Sasuke had removed the wall panel, sending it crashing to the ground, the sight in front of him leaving him more shocked than any other time in his life.
A little girl, around three years old, cowering in the little hole in the wall. Her tear-covered eyes looked up at Sasuke's red ones and she held her arms up in futile protection, fresh tears streaming down her face. The Konoha jounin simply stared, unprepared for such a discovery.
Her little feet were trying to push herself farther into the wall, away from him and he realized why she was so scared. Deactivating his Sharingan, he crouched in front of her and put his kunai away, holding both his palms up. "It's okay, I'm here to protect you. Don't be scared," he said in his softest voice. He tried to reach out to her, but she flinched away from his advancement and whimpered even more, her tears staining the cotton shirt she was wearing.
"Tou-san...Kaa-san..." she was begging, pleading for her parents and Sasuke swallowed. This little girl reminded him too much of himself, and he knew that he couldn't let her see the bodies behind him. Right now he was obstructing her view of the death behind him, but once she came out of the nook the view would be completely unobstructed and Sasuke wouldn't have that. No one had to go through what he went through. No one deserved to see their parents' bodies, bloody and mangled.
"What's your name?" Sasuke asked quietly, as soothingly as he could manage, and the little three-year-old let him hold her small hand securely in his broad one.
"Chi-Chiharu..."
Sasuke tried to make his voice even gentler. "Chiharu-chan, I'm here to help you. You have to trust me. I'll make sure you're safe. Please, don't be scared of me."
In response the little girl launched herself at him, clutching onto his cloak with her small hands and he curled protectively around her, holding her close underneath his cloak, swiftly rising and striding towards the exit of the building.
He reached his head outside of the doorframe, looking in the direction that Sakura had gone to inspect the commotion. With his Sharingan he could see her, just less than half a mile away, hiding behind a building, intently watching five Sound-nin walking down the road.
Chiharu made a small noise and he could feel her whole body shaking in fright. He looked down to the child in his arms and placed his face close to hers, making sure to shut his eyelids as to not scare her with the Sharingan again. "Shhh, you have to be quiet. Don't make any noise." And he blended in with the shadows, approaching Sakura's hiding place.
Sakura didn't spare him a glance when she felt her teammate's presence close behind her. "They're Oto-nin," she whispered.
"Sakura." Sasuke's voice spilled urgency.
She waved a hand over her shoulder, refusing to remove her gaze from the Sound shinobi's backs. "I know, I know, 'Don't provoke a fight,' I'm just watching them, Sasuke. They've come back because their leader thinks there might be some Sand-nin still alive here. If that's true, we have to find them and bring them back to Tsunade-sama. I just hope we can get to them before they do-"
"Sakura," Sasuke's voice was even more serious than before.
"What?" She whispered sharply, spinning around to look at Sasuke accusingly, he had made her lose her view of the Oto-nin- then her eyes looked down at the small bundle in Sasuke's arms. A small baby, not more than three years old, wearing civilian clothes and trembling fiercely. "A child? But no was said to have survived," she breathed incredulously.
Sasuke's tone was grim. "Her parents hid her in a hidden wall compartment. I found her unharmed. Her name is Chiharu."
"Oh my kami..." Sakura reached out to take the child from Sasuke's arms and they somewhat awkwardly transferred her into the pink-haired kunoichi's arms. That was when Sakura noticed the small bracelet the little girl was wearing around her wrist. "What's this...?" With her finger Sakura twisted the small band to reveal the charm that was attached to the link.
Sasuke's and Sakura's eyes widened as they stared at the symbol of Sunagakure on the charm of the little girl's bracelet.
"She's a Suna civilian," Sasuke breathed. "What the hell is she doing here-"
"No, no, this isn't good. This wasn't expected. We have to get back to Konoha, now," Sakura's mind was kicking into overdrive. There were several things wrong with the situation at hand. One, there weren't supposed to be any survivors. Two, the child she held in her arms was a Sunagakure citizen, not from the Land of Fire or even a civilian village in the Wind Country. This was a shinobi child, and she was a long way from home. Third, there was the team of Oto-nin they still had to follow, in case there were any surviving Sand nin.
Sasuke voiced the last fact.
"We're in no position to pursue them. We have a child for kami's sake!" Sakura would have thrown her hands up in the air if said child was not currently occupying her arms.
There was a distant shout.
Sasuke suddenly stepped closer to her, his eyes locking with something behind her. "Sakura, be quiet—" In a flash of movement, Sakura found herself pressed up against Sasuke's chest, the child in her arms squished between them. He had one arm wrapped protectively around them, and Sakura heard the unmistakable sound of kunai hitting kunai and landing on the ground. "We have to get out of here, now," Sasuke growled in her ear.
Having been hiding in an alleyway between buildings, they had nowhere to run; therefore they jumped. Sakura tried her best to land on the roof without causing too much distress to Chiharu, who was gripping her cloak trustingly. "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay—Sasuke, what's going on?"
The Konoha shinobi was whipping his head around urgently, trying to find a way out. He didn't need to answer her query after shouts of "Over there! They're over there!" sounded from the street below.
Sakura's eyes widened. "They think we're the surviving Suna-nin."
Sasuke made fleeting eye contact with her, then resumed his scouring. "Yes, and let's keep it that way. If they knew about our operation they could get the wrong idea and think Konoha is entering the war — this way."
With one last glance at the Oto-nin scurrying below – the idiots had yet to look up- Sakura hastily followed Sasuke as he jumped onto the roof of an adjacent building. They reached and passed the border of the little village, delving into the forest until they reached a small clearing near a stream.
Sakura put Chiharu down on the ground, keeping her small hand planted firmly in hers. The two watched as Sasuke bit his thumb, swiping the blood across a scroll he'd extracted from his flak jacket, effectively summoning his hawk summons. "I'm sending word to Kakashi in the next village over."
Sakura nodded grimly and looked down to the girl when she felt a light tug at her skirt. "I'm thirsty."
Sakura's green eyes widened and she realized – really realized – their situation. Chiharu was a child, a three-year-old child, for kami's sake. The pink-haired kunoichi looked over to her partner helplessly, but he was immersed in his writing of a note to Kakashi. Her gaze returned to Chiharu's brave, unwavering, doe-eyed one.
Sakura forced a small smile to her face, and she hoped it looked lighter than it felt. "Of course, let's get you some water." She tugged a little at Chiharu's hand, and was ashamed to discover that the girl could walk. Of course she can walk, she's three years old, all three year olds can walk—Sakura realized she had no idea how to care for children and found herself praying that Kakashi would know what to do.
They reached the riverbank and sat along the water's edge after Sakura did a discreet visual sweep of the area to make sure it was safe. The kunoichi dipped her cupped hand into the stream, using a surge of chakra to purify it before pouring a minute amount into the little girl's mouth. After Chiharu had had enough to drink, the little girl eyed Sakura unwaveringly. It was a little disconcerting, to be looked at by a child, and Sakura had no idea why she felt so nervous.
"Mommy does that too," Chiharu said suddenly in a clear, high-pitched voice slightly tinged with a baby accent.
Sakura was a little taken aback. "Does what?"
"Makes the blue stuff come out of her hand and clean the water."
"…Oh," Sakura said, rubbing the back of her neck, not knowing what she was supposed to say.
Thankfully, she didn't have to say anything. "Sakura," Sasuke approached them, crouching next to his teammate and holding out a piece of paper to her. She immediately recognized Kakashi's lazy scrawl and read.
Sasuke, send word to Tsunad-sama about your situation. Then go back into the village and finish the mission. Stay out of sight and hurry. Have Sakura keep the child in the forest with her. Naruto and I have finished with our village. We'll meet up with her and the girl in fifteen minutes. If you're not with them when we get there, I'll follow you into the village and provide you with backup while Naruto stays with Sakura.
As she was reading, Sasuke withdrew a scroll from his person and unrolled it on the ground. He bit his thumb and summoned his hawk summons again, to which he deftly tied a small note to its outstretched leg. The hawk flew off silently in the direction of Konoha. When he was finished, he looked up.
Sakura locked eyes with her partner and gave him a small nod. "Go." And in the next second he was gone.
"…Daddy does that too," Chiharu said, drawing Sakura's attention back to her. "He goes away really fast, like that person did. Are you shee-noh-bee?"
Sakura tentatively reached out and patted her on the head, smiling at her attempt at pronouncing the word. "Yes, we're shinobi, and we're here to keep you safe."
"He said that to me too."
Sakura smiled more naturally. "Well, we both mean it." There were goosebumps rising on the skin of the little girl's arms. "Are you cold?"
Chiharu nodded, her curls bobbing up and down. Sakura hastily unclasped her cloak and wrapped it around Chiharu's small body, the fabric enveloping her so that she looked like a bundle of black fabric with her head sticking out of the top. The cold night air hit Sakura's bare arms and legs, but she didn't mind it in the least. The little girl yawned and began to slump over in lethargy.
"Chiharu… Where are your parents?" Sakura whispered tentatively, gently pushing the girl back until she lied comfortably in the grass, swaddled in her travelling cloak.
"At home," was her simple answer, and it took Sakura by surprise.
By the sound of the little girl's soft, even breathing, Sakura thought. Chiharu had heavily implied her parents were shinobi, and the charm on her bracelet was proof she was from Sunagakure. But how had she gotten into the Land of Fire when her parents were back "home" in Suna? Sakura pondered these things, absentmindedly stroking the girl's hair.
Somewhere in the forest between Konoha and the outskirts of the small villages, an unusually large owl was perched upon a pine tree, scoping out the area.
That was when the hawk flew below the branches, and the owl's keen eyes trained on the collar of the other's bird's neck, which bore the symbol of the Leaf.
The owl took off; closely following the hawk, which was unaware it was being pursued.
In a flurry of feathers the owl brought the hawk down, pinning the other summons to the ground. Then the wise creature, which was capable of such high-level jutsu, reverse-summoned his contractor, who appeared before the two struggling animals.
"What have we here?" the hidden-in-shadows man spoke to himself over the panicked screeching of the hawk underneath his owl summons's talons. He reached for the note on the hawk's leg, glancing at the Konoha symbol around its neck.
His eyes scanned the contents of the note, then the man tucked the piece of paper under his cloak for safekeeping, glaring into the thicket of trees with an infuriated expression.
The man and his summons disappeared in a puff of dark smoke, leaving the injured hawk battered and alone in the darkness of the forest.
Back in the destructed civilian village Sasuke resumed the mission of placing transportation tags onto the fallen bodies of villagers, listening for the voices of the Oto-nin.
The emotional aspect of this mission was really getting to him. The scene was all too familiar to that night… The village was even roughly the same size as the expansive Uchiha compound, and that was disconcerting enough as it was.
Sasuke found himself so lost in his work and thoughts that he almost missed the sound of hushed voices from the street.
"He said that she'd be around here somewhere." Sasuke's brow furrowed. He'd been under the impression that they were there for something, not someone.
"She's obviously not here, I don't even feel her chakra signature." Her? For a transient moment Sasuke thought they were discussing Sakura, then another voice spoke.
"Children her age do not yet have chakra signatures." Sasuke froze, sending chakra to his inner ears to further listen in on their conversation.
A third, more harsh voice spoke next. "…Her parents are two of the most respected shinobi in Sunagakure, how could you idiots just lose such a crucial hostage? She was a three-year-old child how hard could it have been to keep her in your sight long enough to bring her back to Orochimaru-sama?"
Sasuke felt the woosh of wind that was particular to a transportation jutsu. A female's voice spoke now, addressing the three men. "You are to report to Otogakure immediately. Chiharu is no longer in this village. Another team has been dispatched to her current location to re-obtain her as a hostage. When you return to Otogakure, Orochimaru-sama would like to see you in his office immediately. Do not take any detours."
"Hai!" Another breeze; and three chakra signatures disappeared.
Sasuke leapt from his hiding place, gripping the woman around her delicate neck with a single hand and shoving her up against a wall. He leaned his face in to growl in her ear. "Where is Chiharu?"
Her lips curled in disgust as she tried to squirm away, to no avail. Sasuke's other hand held his katana at her throat now, and he pressed hard enough to draw a fine line of blood. "Konoha-nin," she spat. "Oh, but I'm sure you know where the girl is. After all, your partner is keeping her in the forest just west of this place." Sasuke stiffened and she let out a harsh laugh. "That's right, we know where she is. As we speak, my partner is going to kill your friend and take the kid."
The woman hissed in pain as the sword cut a little deeper and she was momentarily taken aback by the fierce look in her captor's eyes as he glared at her. "How do you know this," Sasuke's voice dropped to a menacing whisper.
"Like I would tell you—ah!" The katana was dangerously close to her jugular now.
"Tell me or I will kill you."
"Fine, fine," she panted, and Sasuke let up a bit with his sword. "My partner intercepted a Konoha summons that had a note addressed to the Hokage. It told us where the child was and that there was only one shinobi guarding her. But it's too late to save them; Tanto-san is probably already there…—please don't kill me!" She added hastily when the Konoha jounin repositioned his blade at her neck.
Ignoring her plea, Sasuke made quick work of the Oto kunoichi, darting out of the village and back to where he'd left Sakura and Chiharu, hoping that Kakashi and Naruto were close as well.
Chiharu had fallen asleep, still wrapped up in Sakura's cloak. Sakura couldn't help but feel bad for the small child, so far from home without a clue of what was going on. The kunoichi absentmindedly ran a single finger through the little girl's hair, while her other hand deftly twirled a kunai.
She hoped that Kakashi and Naruto would show soon, or better yet, that Sasuke would finish up in the village and come back. She felt nervous alone with the child. The reason why the child was even out of The Land of Wind was unbeknownst to her, and that made her all the more anxious. Was there someone out there hunting her down? Sakura was tired, but she knew she couldn't afford even a five minute nap in case something was to happen. And so she kept herself busy with her thoughts.
Sakura caught the kunai between her fingers before it lodged itself into her chest. Her eyes wild, her mind calculated the trajectory and angle of the kunai, deducing that the person had thrown it from behind that tree and her fingers reacted, spinning the kunai in her hand so that he fingers were around the grip and threw it back in the direction it had come from. All this happened in less than two seconds.
The pink-haired kunoichi leapt up and moved to stand between the sleeping child and the hidden enemy. "Show yourself," she said in a low voice, knowing that whoever was out there would hear her.
"Sakura… What a suiting name, blossom," the deep tenor came from a shadow that had moved from behind the tree. "I'm glad your partner decided to mention you in his little note to the Hokage. I don't think I would have been able to kill you, such a beautiful woman, without learning your name first, no?"
Sakura gave no response, instead focusing all her concentration to prepare for the moment when she'd get a clear shot at his heart with a kunai. Just a few more steps forward…
The presence was suddenly behind her. His hands encircled her torso, pinning her arms to her sides as he pressed his tall, lean frame against her back. She struggled, but the position he had her arms in made it impossible to effectively fight back.
He lowered his head so that his breath grazed the tip of her ear when he spoke. "You're really very beautiful, Sakura, it's a pity I have to kill you. How about you hand the child over without a fight and I'll let you live? Maybe I'll even give you a kiss before I leave, if you're good."
Although her face displayed utter disgust at his words, she forced her body to act in a contradictory way and relaxed in his hold. He fell for it, and his constricting vice became somewhat of an embrace and Sakura made a valiant effort to mask the grimace that was threatening to invade her features.
"That's a good girl… umph!" Sakura hung her head forward, then snapped it back, effectively breaking one of his ribs with the force of her skull contacting his chest. It made her a little dizzy, but the she was now operating on auto-pilot, elbowing him in the ribs, breaking another, then spinning around to punch him into the dirt.
She had to give it to him; the fact that he had not fallen over was a testament to his durability. She'd handed him a chakra-enhanced punch and he had merely stumbled.
"Little bitch," he spat, then lunged.
It was a second too late that she realized he was not lunging for her, rather for the bundle ten feet to her side. "NO!" she cried, trying to reach Chiharu before the man did, cursing the fact that she had put them in a position where he was closer to the sleeping child than she was herself.
Suddenly there was a strong, sharp wind, and a flash of blue light. "Rasengan!" cried a familiar voice, and Sakura stopped dead in her tracks, watching as Naruto disengaged her enemy. When the dust cleared, Sakura saw Chiharu, still sleeping peacefully in the patch of grass, and Naruto and Kakashi standing over the ninja the blond had just taken out.
"Naruto," she breathed in relief, and the three Konoha-nin locked eyes. The two younger jounin then turned to their senior, who was already in action.
Kakashi picked up the bundle that was Chiharu, holding her gently yet securely. "We need to leave. We've picked up the presence of more Oto-nin due north about half a mile away, and they're headed here."
Sakura fidgeted. "But Sasuke—"
"I'm right here, Sakura," Sasuke landed beside her with a soft thud in the forest floor, nodding to the two newcomers. He glanced at the Rasengan-mangled body in the dirt a few feet away and at a slumbering Chiharu in Kakashi's arms, relieved that everything was okay.
"Sasuke, did you complete your mission?" Kakashi asked seriously.
"Yes. I also came across a team of Oto-nin who were sent back to Sound by a woman who claimed to know Sakura and Chiharu's location. She told me about her partner, that man," he inclined his head towards the body, "and I came back immediately. They'd intercepted my summons."
Kakashi looked grim, and handed the child to Naruto before he summoned Pakkun. Naruto looked a little surprised and uneasy about having something so delicate and fragile in his arms.
Kakashi briefed the small dog about the situation, and sent him off to Konoha via a transportation jutsu to ensure he would not be intercepted.
"Sakura," Kakashi said in a slightly pleading tone, as he bent over and braced his hands on his knees.
"Right, Kaka-sensei," she hurried over to him, sending her medical chakra in to the chakra point at his neck, replenishing his chakra reserves. Transportation jutsu took a tremendous amount of chakra, and sending the, albeit small, dog miles away to Konoha had taken up a lot of the Copy Ninja's chakra. Out of the four of them, only Naruto would have a chance at successfully teleporting all the way to Konoha from their location, and even then he'd have to rely on some of the Kyuubi's energy to do so.
When he was in a decent enough condition to begin travelling, Sakura removed her hands from his neck. "Let's go," Kakashi said, and the four ninja began their trip back home with the small Chiharu wrapped safely in the jinchuriki's arms.
Tsunade blanched as the small dog relayed Kakashi's message. "Thank you, Pakkun," she excused the summons and he disappeared in a miniature puff of smoke.
"Shizune, get me Shikaku!" The older woman rested her chin on her clasped hands, eyes closed.
"Right away, Tsunade-sama." The younger woman left the room, the only sounds coming from the door shutting and her heels clicking down the hallway as she hurried to find the head of the Nara clan.
"This is a very peculiar situation indeed," Shikaku said with an ease that Tsunade envied.
"They should be arriving within three hours. We must decide whether we should let the child, Chiharu, into the village or not."
"Doing so would jeopardize our neutrality," Shikakau stated levelly.
"I'm fully aware of that. I've called you here to ask you a question, Shikaku."
"Hokage-sama?"
"If we were to allow the child to take refuge in our city… And if Otogakure were to accuse us of entering the war on the Kazekage's side… If we claimed out actions were necessary to preserve the peace agreement between Konoha and Suna, could we maintain our neutrality?"
Shikaku placed his palms on Tsunade's desk, looking the Hokage in the eye. "Politically, yes, we will still be qualified for neutrality," Shikaku closed his eyes then opened them again, and they were gleaming clear. "Tsunade-sama, Otogakure has breached their treaty. They've pillaged five Fire Country civilian villages. They've turned our lands into their battlefield. You may consider entering into this war, Tsunade-sama. We have the resources, and along with Suna, taking out the opposition will be feasible."
The Hokage's eyes grew darker with every word out of the Nara's mouth. "So you are suggesting that we engage in all-out war with Otogakure, when this peace treaty has been working thus far?"
"With all due respect, Tsunade-sama, but the peace agreement has not been effective, with the five civilian villages in the north as evidence. Do not fool yourself, Hokage-sama. It is time to take action."
And Tsunade knew his words were true.
"Very well, when Kakashi and his team return, allow the child into the village. They are to report straight to me as soon as they arrive."
Sakura had never felt so relieved to see the walls of Konoha ahead as the four shinobi landed in the grass before the gigantic wooden gate. The guards allowed them entrance as soon as they'd affirmed their identities.
"Everyone, to Hokage Tower now," Kakashi said strictly. It was late at night, and the village was still alive. Light was supplied by paper lanterns and lovely candle lamps scattered throughout the village. At this time there were villagers out and about, eating dinner a nice restaurants or food stands and enjoying the cloudless sky.
To avoid any attention, the four shinobi took to the roofs. Silently and wraith-like, they jumped from roof to roof, making their way towards the tower up ahead.
Sasuke effortlessly swung over the Hokage's office's balcony railing, Sakura following suit. Naruto and Kakashi landed beside them then, and together they walked inside to see their Hokage.
"Welcome back," Tsunade said, and Sakura could recognize the stress in her mentor's eyes. "Where is the child?"
"Here, Tsunade-baa-chan, I have her," Naruto said, stepping up to show the Hokage the bundle in his arms.
Chiharu chose this moment to wake up, and it was a testament to Naruto's reaction time that he didn't drop her when she violently squirmed out of his arms. He gently placed her on the ground, and she looked up at the blond, her eyes wide. Naruto tried to soothe her by smiling, but she quickly backed away from him, searching the room with her big eyes for something familiar. Her eyes landed on Tsunade next, and the older woman's stern face scared her even more. She looked at Kakashi, and the masked, one-eyed man frightened her. The little girl whipped around and spotted Sasuke and Sakura standing next to each other on the other side of the room.
As fast as he little feet would carry her, Chiharu ran unsteadily towards the pink-haired kunoichi and the Uchiha. She reached Sasuke and tugged on the hem of the black sweater he wore under his jounin vest, lifting her arms up in a silent beg for him to pick her up. He did so, and quite awkwardly, for he was still not accustomed to young children.
Tsunade raised her eyebrow at the way Chiharu wrapped her short arm around the Uchiha's neck, then reached out with her other hand to grasp the sleeve of the pink-haired kunoichi at his side. "She seems quite comfortable with the two of you," the Godaime pointed out, then walked over with her arms outstretched. "Chiharu-chan, come with me. I'm going to take you somewhere safe where you're going to stay with some nice people who are going to take care of you until we can find your parents."
Chiharu stared wide-eyed at the Hokage, quickly shook her head in a way that sent her brown curls swaying, then buried her face deeper into Sasuke's neck, holding on for dear life. "No!" She squeaked and Sasuke grimaced at the sound amplified by the girl's proximity to his ear.
Tsunade dropped her arms to her sides, an indignant tilt to her head as she regarded the young child. "Chiharu-chan, please. Your parents will like it much better if they knew you were with me."
"I don't want to!" The girl's voice threatened tears.
Naruto stepped up. "Ne, Tsunade-baa-chan, please don't make her cry!"
The Hokage ignored the blond's protest. "Chiharu—"
Before things could get out of hand – more like before the child could cry, kami forbid such a noisy and disrupting and loud thing to happen – Sakura stepped in front of Sasuke, blocking Tsunade's view of the little girl, and blocking the little girl's view of Tsunade. "Eheheh, Tsunade-shisou, if Chiharu wants, Sasuke and I will take care of her until we find her parents!" She laughed nervously, practically feeling Sasuke's glare bore into the back of her skull. Even Naruto seemed a little taken aback, as evidenced by his momentary gaping.
Chiharu's vice grip on the Uchiha was testament enough to her decision.
Tsunade slowly crossed her arms. "Very well. Sasuke, Sakura, you two will care for the child until further notice. Efforts to identify the parents will begin immediately. You are dismissed," Tsunade returned to her seat behind her desk, closing her eyes. "Shizune!" she called.
The four jounin proceeded out of the office, passing Tsunade's assistant in the doorway.
"Well, I have to go. Goodnight," Kakashi excused himself and promptly disappeared, leaving his former students standing together in front of Hokage Tower.
A cold breeze whipped by and Chiharu shivered. The motion attracted the attention of the three eighteen-year-olds, and again they wondered how they'd ended up with a kid, for kami's sake.
Luckily for him, Naruto could escape. "Heh, well, I guess I'll see you around!" He scratched his head, then tentatively reached out to awkwardly pat Chiharu on the head. "You have a good night, okay?"
At the sense of a friendly touch, Chiharu lifted her head and gazed straight into Naruto's eyes, and the blond jinchuriki marveled at how large and warm her eyes were. The irises were a soft brown, almost the same color as her hair. His smile broadened and he let out a soft breath of awe. Chiharu returned his grin with a shy smile of her own, then quickly turned away.
Naruto stood up straight again. "Well, see ya!" He disappeared in a puff of smoke.
And then there were two… Well, three.
"Let's go to your apartment," Sasuke said in his normal cool tone, and Sakura had to wonder if she was in trouble. As they made their way back into the more dense part of the village towards the main road, Sakura observed her partner out of the corner of her eye. His previous tone of voice was normal for him, betraying no emotion as usual. His face was calm, not wrinkled like it would be if he was irritated or annoyed. He held Chiharu with a kind of gentleness that was not in any way harsh or overbearing. For some reason Sakura could not place, Sasuke looked… content. Even though the circumstances they were under were, based on Sakura's speculation of what Sasuke did and did not like (which was pretty accurate), less than satisfactory, Sasuke didn't seem to even mind. It was a little disconcerting, to say the least.
"…Do you want me to hold her?" Sakura asked innocently, nodding towards Chiharu.
Sasuke glanced down at his side for a moment then smirked. "Sakura, are you doubting my ability to hold a child?" His voice was light and carried a sort of amused tone.
"Of course not, Sasuke, we all know you can carry Naruto for kami's sake, what's a small child?"
If possible, Sasuke's smirk grew. "Exactly."
"It's just, you know…" Sakura blinked uncertainly.
"No, I really don't. Care to enlighten?"
Sakura rolled her eyes playfully, then returned to her nervous fidgeting. "Well…"
"Well?"
"Well, I was going to offer to take care of Chiharu tonight. By myself."
"And why would you do that?" Sasuke's voice betrayed a hint of surprise.
"Because I'm the one who suggested we take her before I even asked you what you wanted to do. So it's only fair that I take her, because it's not like you want to or anything, because I'm sure you've got better things to do…" she knew she was rambling, but Sasuke's sudden pensive silence threw her into something similar.
After a moment he said, "Sakura, I want to take care of Chiharu with tonight."
Sakura couldn't help it, she paused mid-step to gape at her teammate, jaw open and eyes wide and everything. "What?"
Sasuke sighed and turned around, now a few paces ahead of the pink-haired kunoichi who seemed to be really quite slow today. "I'm offering to voluntarily help you with taking care of Chiharu tonight. Now come on, it's getting cold." He turned back around and continued down the path, forcing Sakura to snap out of it and follow him.
Eventually she returned to his side and he could practically feel the beaming rays of her smile radiate their warmth onto his skin. Sakura had dropped her silly crush on him years ago, when they'd first been made chuunin. There was no time for such frivolous things then, and the tolerance level lessened as the years went on and they became jounin. But even then, Sasuke figured his female teammate still had some sort of attraction to him, despite her obvious attempts at suppressing it.
For her part, Sakura did a good job at keeping her emotions at bay. In their first S-rank mission that had entailed camping in the forests of Lightning for two and a half weeks, Sakura had succeeded in acting mature at the sight of her male teammates returning from a quick bath in the river wearing nothing but towels wrapped around their waists. Sasuke hadn't even taken care to knot his, instead loosely tucking in at the waist and he remembered feeling a little sorry for doing so, because it was taking Sakura some obvious effort not to stare at the way the towel was just barely staying on… But it also made him feel a little proud to be on a team with such a strong kunoichi, and he was glad she'd been able to get over him. He just wasn't able to return her feelings, and he was glad she had begun to accept and respect his boundaries.
Once they'd entered Sakura's apartment and settled in, Sasuke placed Chiharu down on the couch and the young girl yawned.
"I'm hungry."
And the shinobi stared, not sure what to do. It was going to be a long week.
What are Sakura and Sasuke going to do with a kid :O? Find out in the next chapter, Part 2 of 2 of Ice Will Melt.
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