b o r r o w e d
h e a v e n
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"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature."
— Helen Keller
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chapter 2
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Sasuke repeated to himself that it was only because of his sudden burst of anger and the child's appearance that caused him to be caught off guard. It was definitely not why he felt anger that made him caught flat-footed and unable to defend himself from a child he was probably old enough to be father for.
Curiously enough, his ninja instincts he developed over the years had made his body react instantly to danger even to those that he trusted. But his internal radar had completely dismissed the child as a threat.
He knew it was not because he underestimated him because of his age (Sasuke knew better than to believe a child wasn't capable of cold-blooded murder), but at the same time- he didn't know the reason also.
"It's okay, let go of him! He's a special guest of Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said as the younger doppelganger of the Uchiha reluctantly got off his straddle on his waist that would not have held the Otokage anyway.
Despite the elder's lithe body shape, the child's small body meant that he could barely pin the man to the floor and touch the floor he was pinning his opponent to himself.
"Who-?" Sasuke could not finish.
"Oi- bozu. Tenten is calling for you." Sasuke turned to see another familiar face from his earlier days in Konohagakure leaning slightly towards the side of the door- holding it open.
Upon his eye landing on the owner of the voice; his alpha complex began to switch itself on.
Long brown hair rippled as Neji dipped his head to acknowledge the younger shinobi's achievement as the Kage of another village, therefore being someone of a higher ranking status, and Sasuke returned the gesture.
Despite what may have happened between them in the past, the two of them had similar upbringings in their childhood as members of prominent clans and it was to be expected. Unfortunately, before he was given a chance to ask the young boy his name, he had already bounded off out the door.
Not before throwing the Uchiha clan head an icy glare though.
Sasuke assumed that he might be the Hyuuga- and who did he say? Tenten's- child. It certainly explained the dark hair and eyes- he faintly remembered how the Hyuuga heiress had midnight hair and Tenten having dark eyes, probably just a coincidence in the lottery of the gene pool.
Maybe that would explain why he didn't feel threatened. But it didn't. His body would have registered him as a danger automatically. But the boy just managed to slip past even his conscious.
Not that it mattered- Sakura was more important than some boy at that moment.
"Let's continue where we left off." Sasuke deadpanned at Kakashi when he saw the downcast expression on Naruto's face. It meant that the blond probably wouldn't be any help.
"What is her status? Did the council label her as a nuke-nin?" The Otokage knew that the new council hand-picked by the civilians and Hokage themselves (with his clan's history in the back of their minds) was not corrupt.
But if didn't mean that Sakura couldn't have ran off by herself and hid.
At least that means that she's safe.
"No… they didn't." The masked ninja spoke softly, his mask barely moving. He almost sounded as if he wanted that; and he understood. Being a nuke-nin meant being hunted and at least they'd receive some news on her.
His former student still rose his eyebrow at the answer, recalling that once upon a time in their genin years she would have gladly followed him along if she had been given the chance.
He suddenly felt the sick "what if" of what would have happened if he did bring her along.
Would she be missing now?
"How about her family? They wouldn't have just let their daughter be taken away. Did thoroughly examine Sakura's behavior before she left-
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because she had to have left herself
that meant that she would be safe
and away from danger
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-when they were interviewed-
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because it has to be interviewed
interrogated would mean that she was really taken
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-by the authorities?"
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because authorities could mean something else
and he sincerely hoped it wasn't ninja
even when he knew it was
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It was Kakashi's turn to glare at him now. Anger burning in his eyes, and the other could feel the intensity of the Sharingan seething through the hitae-ate. He had known that the former ANBU has treated Sakura like his own daughter, especially during the period Naruto and he both left, and during Konoha's invasion when Tsunade had fallen into coma. But he never knew that he was so protective of her.
"Do you really think we all wouldn't have searched for a possible explanation?"
He continued when Sasuke didn't answer.
"I'm sure her parents would have if they hadn't murdered 3 years before she was taken too."
Sasuke froze- murdered?
He glanced at the others- Yamato wore a similar look to Kakashi, while even the normally emotionless Sai seemed uncharacteristically irritated by him. Naruto- he wore an expression of guilt.
Why were they looking at him like that? While that explained the copy-nin's rage, he wasn't involved in any way with her parents.
Disliking the turn of events he decided to ask his first question directly.
"How do you know she didn't leave herself?"
Kakashi tried to calm himself down as he placed a calloused palm over his face, shutting his eyes tightly.
"Sakura… she wouldn't. She had someone too important. Here. In Konoha. Sakura gave up everything for him."
"She loved him." Naruto whispered, the corners of his mouth rising into a small smile. A knowing, bitter smile. It was mocking. Like he knew that Sasuke wanted Sakura there with them.
With him.
And he did.
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Uchiha Sasuke knew Sakura. He knew about Sakura. He heard all about her.
The beautiful prodigy of the female Sannin that would keep her distance from men and relationships.
She barely had any contact with anyone out of Konoha's main ninja. And if there was- it would be her patients who she was completely professional towards. Cared for many, cared by many; loved by many, but unable to love was what they aid about her.
Sasuke looked at Naruto expecting to see at least some glow of pride to show that he finally won- seeing none he looked at Kakashi for an explanation which he did not receive. Though refusing to believe it was either of them, he experimentally glanced over Sai and Yamato.
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Nothing.
Had Sakura found someone else?
When did she finally find someone else to love?
Did she finally realize how much she was worth?
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"Sasuke-kun!
I love you the most!"
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He suddenly felt like laughing at the irony of the situation.
He never found out how much he loved her until she moved on.
Until she was
missing
Maybe he really was going crazy.
"Who?" he rasped out.
Because he failed to protect Sakura also. If he was so important to her, he had the responsibility to protect her.
He was almost happy that whoever it was had failed her too.
And he felt like running a sword through himself for thinking that.
But-
It meant that he wasn't as much of a failure.
"You'll find out soon enough." Sai answered. Speaking up again.
Sasuke growled as he wasn't expecting the other to answer and at the fact that none of is questions had been clearly answered.
"What exactly do you all know?"
"She disappeared around the same time you did back then- after the execution of the old council. But when we got news of you appearing in Oto… we got nothing on her…"
"Status possible?" his shortened question easily understood by those in the same profession.
"No one less than jounin level could even have posed as a threat. She already surpassed Tsunade at 16," he gestured at Naruto.
"just as Naruto and Jiraiya-sama;"
He looked at Sasuke pointedly.
"and… Orochimaru and you."
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Kakashi had told Sasuke to look for Tsunade when he requested for Sakura's file so that he could get his own shinobi to look for her. So he was heading down the hallways that lead to her door.
Unfortunately, he was rudely interrupted in his stride as a small black-clad sprinter nearly knocked him off balance. Luckily, because of his weight and height- instead of being knocked over, he knocked them over.
Muttering a curse under his breath as the small thing got up, he looked Sasuke in the eye. An accusing finger outstretched.
"You! You're the one that attacked jii-chan!"
"Yes."
Despite barely reaching a third of his verbal opponents size, he straightened himself out and grunted at the monosyllabic response. Preparing to walk off after dusting himself off and shooting the man a glare. He checked the time through the clock embedded on the wall and immediately rushed.
"Oi- what's your name?" The Sharingan bearer looked at brave youngster in interest.
"You're supposed to offer your own name before asking for someone else's!" The kid shouted as he ran off.
The Otokage smirked as he decided that the dark-haired child was too alike himself to be left alone when he pushed through the wooden doors of the office. Especially when he already had shinobi training prior to attending the academy, and he was almost sure he knew that he had received training when he had called Naruto- 'jii-chan'.
If he was as good as a ninja as he was at his age- he could grow to be very powerful.
"Sasuke." Tsunade greeted with a dip of her head in her seat on the Hokage's tower. Loose blonde pigtails rubbing against the wood of her desk as she leaned forward to rest her head in her hands. After her temporary retirement, she rarely left her chair after getting out of the hospital bed.
"How may I help you?"
"Who was that kid?"
That wasn't exactly the question Tsunade had been expecting. She didn't think that he would get to meet him so soon. But she answered, feigning ignorance.
"Shisui? What's wrong?"
Shisui?
She could almost see his mind already working his way around the child's name. It must have somehow ringed a bell in there after all.
"Does he attend the academy?" Tsunade decided that he probably wasn't genuinely interested in knowing whether he was an academy student from the way he deadpanned the question.
"No. He's a chuunin." She spoke proudly as she watched the Uchiha's unbelieving expression of lips pressed into a straight line and eyebrow raised.
"I know- amazing right? He passed the exams that you had failed when you were 13 at 7 years old."
The older lady didn't wait for the other to back channel with a witty remark on her patronizing his past lack of success when she continued.
"He my prodigy's prodigy."
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After receiving several files on Sakura, the dark haired avenger headed for the east part of Konoha to search for the apparent chuunin that he had taken an interest in.
Melancholically enough, the neighborhood was where Sakura used to live, and the address was amazingly close too. Probably even just a few blocks away. He didn't think he'd have remembered the address from such a long time ago as he stared hard at the fragile piece of white on his hands.
He wasn't far off.
Following the directions stated in the paper, he found himself standing in front of Sakura's home.
Did the kid live here?
Was that how he met Team 7?
Did the idiot think that Sakura had returned and barged in only to find a kid and his family? Sasuke would have chuckled at himself if he was one for joy and laughter. He wouldn't be surprised. It seemed like something Naruto would do. Barge into someone else home to find the person who was the 'most important' to him.
Or, maybe it was because the Hyuuga's wanted to keep Sakura's place clean. He knew that both Neji and Tenten were particularly close to Sakura.
Raising a fist the raven-haired man knocked twice on the door, surprised to find it open before he could finish the third.
Sasuke pressed his lips into a thin line. The owner of the house was supposed to greet the guest. Not a child. As impromptu as his visit was- it was still good etiquette. Gently ushered in by a swing of the head of the kid, he followed Shisui in.
The house was clean and spacious. And curiously- set up for one person. So the kid was the owner of the house. There were six chairs set around the table, but from the legs of the chairs and marks on the wooden floor- it was clear that only one was used.
The older male decided that he probably did come from a prosperous clan. Many valuable artifacts were around the house. Ninja artifacts, there were antique swords worth tens of thousands of yen hung up on walls. Books all related ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, medical jutsu- even dojutsu were neatly set up in order of kanji strokes (he wondered if the child had obsessive compulsive disorder), and some were so rare even he hadn't have the chance to read before.
And how old was this kid again?
If he hadn't been attacked by him before he would really have thought that it was wasted on him. No wonder the kid made chuunin at such a young age.
He couldn't put his finger on why Shisui was living alone though.
Maybe he's a bastard child of the Hyuuga. He muses.
If would explain a lot. And the Hyuuga's teammate- Tenten? She wasn't from a prominent clan was she?
Shisui suspiciously sat on the sofa, gesturing at the other occupant of the room to take a seat on the armchair across.
Tsunade had told him about the chance of a man coming over to his place earlier that day. But she hadn't mentioned that it would be him. He didn't like him. It was like looking at an older and better version of himself.
He didn't like it at all.
Silence filled the room, but it didn't bother neither of them. They were used to silence, it gave them peace.
They liked it.
Deciding, that despite that he should ask some questions before he left, Sasuke opened his mouth when the other didn't bother throughing him out of the house.
"Where are you're parents? Do you live alone?"
The black eyed, black haired youth paused as he seemed to argue internally the pros and cons of telling the unknown man about himself. While there was no danger of him disclosing the information, he didn't want to trust a stranger even though he felt familiar to him.
"Their not here. I live alone."
The Uchiha merely rose a brow- something he was doing a lot lately.
"I was forced to grow up faster than a normal child." He defended himself with a monotone and a wave of his hand. Not the least bothered by the skeptical gaze of the older man.
He was used to being judged by others because of his birth- but he was proud of his lineage.
"I noticed." Sasuke smirked as he tilted his head slightly towards the filled bookshelf.
"They're my mother's." Shisui gave a small smirk- his form of a smile. Sasuke supposed that he probably loved his mother very much. Ironically- he did too. He saw the sad look in the boy's eyes when he talked about his mother- she was gone too. How very ironic indeed.
"Your name- Shisui, who named you?"
"Hm? My parents. That's what parents do." Shisui paused, pondering on whether he was saying the right things.
"They name their children."
Sasuke nodded, telling the kid he knew that already. He wasn't interested in who named him. He was interested in the 'who's' that named him.
Shisui gave an offhanded shrug of his shoulders.
"I can't remember. I never saw them enough to properly remember. But Kakashi-sensei told me that they were both honorable and powerful ninja."
So Shisui wasn't a bastard child after all. Probably the child of Konoha's higher ranking ninjas who passed away if Kakashi knew them…
Sasuke leaned his back against the soft cushioning of the armchair, crossing his arms that reminded Shisui of Ibiki in an interrogation room. Shisui sat a little taller. He wouldn't be intimidated by that older lookalike of himself!
"How do you know Team Kakashi?" The older male asked, recurring Tsunade mentioning her "prodigy's prodigy". It probably meant that he was trained by Team Kakashi.
"I'm kind of like the bastard child of the cell. The whole village knows anyway." Shisui was really starting to become annoyed. Who did he think he was? Asking him all these questions like he was his Kage.
"Why are you asking me this? You're not one of those crazy Team Kakashi stalker people are you?"
Sasuke looked at Shisui with an amused expression.
"What? Never heard a kid swear?"
"No. Just never heard a kid use profanity with its actual meaning in mind."
Shisui looked genuinely displeased and offended. Taken aback he decided to get back at him.
"My turn to ask the questions... Who are you?" He folded his arms together and leaning back against the sofa, mocking the older man in the same pose as he glared at the face that looked so much like his own.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Shisui froze, eye widened and mouth agape looking more his young age than Sasuke had ever seen him. While the former avenger did not know the boy for long, he reminded Sasuke far too much of himself. He knew that if he was as similar as he thought the were the expression he was currently holding would rarely be seen by anybody.
"You mean...?"
That I'm the Otokage? Sasuke rose an eyebrow that didn't lower as the child in front of him fumbled in his loss of words. Was Shisui finally understanding how disrespectful he had been acting?
"But-! You... why-?" If the Sound leader were any other man he would have laughed as he watched the comical expressions on the raven-haired kid's face. No wonder he always kept a straight face- he was absolutely entertaining to watch. Especially the almost animated way his eyebrow furrowed.
"If you're really my jii-chan why did you need to ask me all those stupid questions anyway? You know them already!" he sounder genuinely frustrated.
The older Uchiha was failing to process the new acquired information.
"Bozu..." He walked up towards the child and paused in front of him, poking the kid's forehead with his index finger gently. An action he grew accustomed to repeating around young children unconsciously after the death of his other brother.
"Your name." He stared more intently at the youth's handsome face, as the wild-eyed child titled his head to look up to him because of his inferior height.
"Tell me your full name."
"Name, Uchiha Shisui." Sasuke closed his eyes in hopes to calm his mind… to find an alternative truth to who the father could be. After all—he only said 'jii-chan', he could be a distant relative-
But as the boy continued his fears were confirmed.
"Born to- father, Uchiha Itachi;"
Of course he'd answer in the formal method, completely unfitting for his tender age, mirroring what was carefully recorded in clan protocols and official documents- stating everything in perfect order.
His mother was probably well educated too.
There was not a single fault apart from the next name he spoke.
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"Sasuke. Know that even if I never showed it- I love you."
"Sasuke-kun, I love you with all my heart!"
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"Mother, Haruno Sakura."
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He loved both very much. They loved him dearly too.
But he never knew how much the cared for each other too.
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A/N:
Yes- this is SASUSAKU. You haven't read a bunch of fabricated errors.
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Anyways...
Super long chapter for you all! So so sorry for not updating, I'm recently moved to boarding school in England (from Hong Kong- a whole 14hours away by plane!) by myself and I've only just really 'settled in'. Most of the chapter was typed on the plane while I was deprived of sleep so the quality isn't as good as I would have liked… but I hope that you do!
Review (and review more XD) for updates~ I write one chapter at a time for all my stories- so depending on demand I'll update that one faster.
And of course- standard disclaimers apply as always
~Yaz