Yo! I know it's been a while but my Open office hates me! Anyway! Enjoy this chapter at least I hope you will!
~~Kyo~~
Disclaimer: You all know I don't own it.
Chapter two:
Underground prison: Interrogation room one:
Sakura sat in her seat, restrained as she was by chakra ropes, with Tsunade sitting across from her reading a report. Sakura wondered what the heck it was about, obviously not her, no one would be able to get a hold of information on her at least not, of her resent history, after she left Konoha. Thus Sakura had to wonder if Tsunade was trying to intimidate her or just trying to finish her paperwork. Sakura didn't speak she just waited while the Hokage read as if she had all day.
Finally Tsunade slapped the folder closed harshly and slammed her hands on the table. The Hokage's bright amber eyes locked on dark jade green.
" Well Sakura? What have you to say for yourself?" The Hokage's amber eyes were dark and angry. Sakura knew they would feel betrayed and in a way they were betrayed. She had joined Akatsuki, granted she had kept Konoha safe from attack for three years, but they could never understand that. Once a Shinobi left the village most times they were considered missing-nin and if those nin happen to join an origination that had been the villages enemy then that Shinobi would be considered a rouge and no longer a part of the village in general. Akatsuki were quite persistent in having her join. Day after day they hunted her down and she had to finally accept. Akatsuki were not as bad a group as thought of by many. They did their deeds of wrong, but they were also helping in a way.
Sakura chose to remain silent of the question directed her. Tsunade would never understand. Sakura knew even if she tried her best to explain the Hokage would have nothing of it.
The Hokage amber eyes narrowed dangerously. They glinted in her anger that was mainly directed on Sakura. Tsunade had never dreamed her ex-student would join Akatsuki betray her and her own home.
" Why did you join Akatsuki?" Sakura sighed mentally. What would Tsunade know about her reasons? She had no choice. It was either run from them or join them, she just figured to join them would be easier then to continue to try to avoid capture and end up like Deidara forced to join by other means. She rather Konoha not be in danger, thus she joined willingly besides by the time she did the Akatsuki was already different then what it once was. Konoha was never in any danger from the organization. Itachi had already made sure of it after the death of the Phantom leader 'Tobi' or Madara Uchiha.
" Answer me Sakura!" Tsunade roared slamming her hands palm flat to the metal table. Sakura met those enraged eyes with cold hard jade.
" Sakura if you give me nothing you can get nothing. The Elders will have you killed and I won't be able to stop them." She didn't even flinch. Tsunade knew she had been gone a long time, but she had thought Sakura would always be the same no matter how long she had been away from her village, no matter what she had done or seen. Tsunade didn't know what she had expected Sakura's reaction to be, perhaps much like Naruto's if his life were threatened. Obviously the hardships of being a missing-nin with out the safety or comfort of a village took too much of that innocence Sakura had in the past.
Tsunade could only guess what things she had lived through out there on her own. The heartbreak she had to suffer through. The pain. Those once bright eyes were hard and cold. The only familiarity in them was that hard determination. Akatsuki was disbanded, so said the old leader himself, so Sakura had nothing to hide or tell about Akatsuki and Tsunade could careless about that disbanded organization. She just wanted to know where Sakura's loyalties lie. If Sakura couldn't be trusted she would be killed like all the others who betrayed their village. Just because Sakura was loved like a daughter did not mean she could be an exception to a rule long ago set in place. If Sakura would not talk then Tsunade could do nothing to save her.
" What are your intentions now that you have returned to Konoha?" Sakura's eyes closed and she sighed finally a sort of response better, Tsunade thought, then just those cold jade eyes staring at her in mocking silence.
" I want to go home." Tsunade eyes brightened. Now they were getting somewhere!
" Are you loyal to Konoha or do your loyalties lie else where?" Tsunade asked. Now was the moment of choice. Sakura had to just say she was loyal and she would live and be confined until deemed safe to return to active duty as a Shinobi. If she refused her loyalty she would be confined and used for information and worse case killed for treason.
" My loyalties lie where I put them Hokage-sama." Sakura said and Tsunade finally understood something she didn't before. She had thought the Akatsuki had wanted Sakura for her medical skills. She had thought Sakura had wanted to train her skills and made a life outside the village as a medic saving lives and the such. Yet in actuality she had been taking them. That cold hardness in those eyes made sense now.
Sakura had not been a medic, she had made a life out of being an assassin for hire. Her loyalties in truth did lie with who she put them in. She killed who she was hired to and if not she killed the one who gave the order. Akatsuki had wanted her not for her medical talents, but for her skills as a Assassin, as a Kunoichi.
" Don't you understand you will be killed Sakura?" Tsunade asked wondering if the girl even cared she would be put to death or not. She saw no change in the girls expression to say she feared death, or that she even cared either way what happened to her.
" You'll be killed right along your old Akatsuki leader and Uchiha Itachi!" Tsunade shouted fear over riding her anger, perhaps making it worse. She did not want Sakura to die. She after all loved the girl.
Finally though, Tsunade saw a change in Sakura expression. Those cold eyes suddenly brightened with what could only be called rage.
" I have a proposition for you Tsunade-sama." Sakura said locking eyes with her. Tsunade was intrigued and curious though slightly unsure.
" What is it?" She asked almost unsure she wanted to really know.
" Pein-sama has his own blood limit. A Kekki genkai that would be a waste if you simply ended his life, and in affect, end his clan's power." Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
" We can't keep the leader, ex or not, of Akatsuki alive in our village." Sakura didn't look worried about Tsunade's flat out refusal, she just continued.
" It would benefit the village to have Pein's blood line in the village and the Elders will surely agree seeing that having Pein's Kekki Genkai added onto the village would be wiser then killing him and through him more power to protect Konoha." Tsunade didn't like where this was going.
" The safety of this village comes first and who knows what sort of damage he will do if he is to remain here." Tsunade said. Sakura shrugged.
" The Elders will make the ultimate decision to this. They will either chose to kill him or wisely keep him around. What danger is he when he is secured by Shinobi, and besides we turned ourselves over to you. Why would be fight to escape when we wanted to come here?" Tsunade really didn't like this.
" What will helping Pein live gain you Sakura? Either way the Elders will not keep you alive or the Uchiha and you can not save him as you may have your old leader. We have Sasuke Uchiha to repopulate the Uchiha clan we do not need Itachi." Sakura didn't look like she believed they would kill any of them. She was perfectly confident, and if Tsunade actually wanted her dead, that would be highly annoying.
" The Uchiha clan would grow faster and stronger with two and not just one Uchiha and besides Itachi knows more about the clan secrets then Sasuke who was so young then, before all the clan secrets, clan jutsu, clan medicine, could be told. If you kill Itachi those secrets die with him and you will simply have the Kekki genkai of a clan not all of it's strengths." Tsunade had to give her credit she was making a pretty good defense. Though Tsunade knew Sakura was brilliant to begin with.
" Very well, you very well could have just saved your two partners now what of you? Or do you simply want to die?" Tsunade asked crossing her fingers together on the table. Sakura was silent a long time and she had even closed her eyes. A look of sudden mental exhaustion flared across her ex-students face.
" Either way it doesn't matter, but I suppose that it would also be a waste to kill me for I know many new medical jutsu that could save many lives, I know many new jutsu from clans long gone, and I know much that could be used for the village's welfare, if that were not enough then perhaps the simple knowledge you will most likely never find another Medic skilled enough to take my place in thirty or more years. Or the fact that you do not want me to die as much as the village does not no matter that I betrayed you or not." Tsunade smiled at her ex-student. She knew she had always liked her for good reason.
" Alright Sakura I will take what you have said to the Elders and it will ultimately be their choice if you all live or die, I will come back when they have made their choice." Sakura nodded but did not rise as Tsunade did. For one she was bound to said chair and two she was exhausted in more ways then one.
" I'll see you soon Sakura. I hope they will allow you to live, but I could care less about the other two." Sakura looked up to her old sensei and sighed.
" If they do not live there is no reason for me to." Tsunade was taken back by that. Did those two really mean so much to her? Did they have her under some sort of jutsu? The understanding of Pein's Kekki Genkai was limited and not much known about it. It was hard to say whether or not he could control a person let alone Sakura to do his will. Tsunade left Sakura alone and signaled to the guard to take her back to her cell while she went to speak to the Elders.
Tsunade knew the Elders would allow them all to live simply because she knew they wanted the village to gain more power, even with the Nara, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clan's.
Sakura was taken to her cell which was no where near Itachi or Pein's cells thus she was alone and she couldn't even inform them on how everything went with Tsunade. Now she just had to wait until Tsunade returned with the decision.
XXxxXXxxXX
The Elders did not take long to come to a decision it seemed and Sakura was taken back to the interrogation room where Tsunade stood with Neji Hyuuga and Shikamaru Nara. Sakura had to simply pledge her loyalty to Konoha and she would be trialed for her crimes, like Pein and Itachi as well.
" I am Loyal to Konoha and you Tsunade-sama." Sakura said simply. Of course it would be a long while before she could be fully trusted again, and thus she would be put under constant watch even after her punishment was over until deemed unnecessary like the other two as well. It is still uncertain if Pein and Itachi will be allowed to return to being Shinobi or if they will be forced to be forever confined to Konoha.
" Pein and Itachi have agreed as well. You will each be charged and then dealt with appropriately."
XXxxXXxxXXxxXXx
Apparently because Sakura had never really attacked or caused harm to anyone of Konoha or their allies, her sentence was not as harsh. She was of course to be watched, but over all she could return to life in Konoha, of course she would not be allowed on active duty as a Shinobi of the village for quite some time, but she is allowed to work at the hospital as Tsunade asked.
Itachi will be confined to the Uchiha district with round the clock supervision and will only be allowed out of the District with guards. He is to find a mate and bare children. Of course Sakura asked to be allowed to stay in the Uchiha district as well. She said simply because her old home was most likely sold to someone else which was true, and as much as Tsunade did not like it she allowed Sakura to live in the Uchiha district with Itachi and Sasuke, who was under order not to kill Itachi or be killed himself.
Pein is too as well live in the Uchiha district only to keep the area needed to be watched confined to a small area. Thus Sakura was to be escorted like the rest to the Uchiha district where their necessitates were to be dealt with and supplied.
Thus Pein and Itachi were brought to the Uchiha district and were ordered to find a wife and get to work. Itachi had made a face at the choice of words and Pein just sighed as if this was too much of a bother and was rethinking his choice of villages to settle down in.
Sakura was walked to the Uchiha district where Itachi and Pein waited at the gate. As soon as Sakura saw Itachi and Pein she took off running to them. Itachi caught her in a hug as soon as she through herself at him. Neji and Shikamaru raised their eye brows at the sight, and Tsunade stood open mouthed as she then hugged Pein who looked fairly surprised by the affection.
Thus Began the start of much curiosity and a revival of two clans.
End Chapter:
Yes I'm ending it here for now. This seemed a good place to stop. Yes it's a bit boring but you at least get the idea of whats going on and the such. Besides next chapter will skip a little in time thus why I ended it here lol. Well I hope your enjoying this fic thus far! Sorry it took so long. My bad. I've been busy.
ANYWAY! Review please!
~~Kyo~~
