AN: Okay, so here's the 411 - I... haven't been feeling so well these last few weeks. Which is why my sasusaku month ended so shortly and abruptly :( I apologize for those who waited and got nothing in return. I think... I might be pregnant...which, if that's the case, I'M GOING TO KILL MY FIANCE! That being said, here's chapter two. There's not really any SasuSaku. But if you squint hard enough...
Chapter 2: The Non-Guilty
Word was already spreading like wildfire.
Fire, fire, fire, fire,
the man chanted as he continued walking the streets of the homey-looking village. Its people giving the man honest and friendly smiles, greetings, and wave gestures.
It only made the man even more furious.
For the people of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, had no idea what was to unfold. How the man they were greeting, excepting as one of their own, would turn their world upside down and make them see bloody, horrible things.
FIRE, FIRE, FIRE, FIRE.
To witness firsthand their destruction, the man couldn't think of a better way to celebrate his new life here.
They all need to burn, he thought, finality in his tone, but first things first. A warm bath sounds just as good as death.
They hadn't made it far out the door when they were suddenly stopped by two ANBU in masks.
"This event must be cut short. We need to escort Naruto Uzumaki to the Hokage right away on her orders," the one with the mask of a bird said; its long beak looking down at all three of them.
Ever bold whenever it came to protecting the people she cared about, Sakura asked, "Would this unexpected visit have anything to do with that crazy woman's outburst in there?" She slightly moved in front of Naruto. Sasuke mirrored her.
The two ANBU exchanged a look. The second agent, who was slightly shorter and wearing a cat mask, said in a female's voice, "We're not at liberty to discuss that information with non-ANBU operatives."
"Sakura and I are ANBU," Sasuke stated in a low voice so no one outside the five of them could overhear. "We were told nothing about this matter."
Another secret exchange. "Yes, you are. However..."
The female ANBU's sentence trailed off but Sakura and Sasuke knew their masked eyes were on the blond.
"We'll escort Naruto ourselves," Sakura decided, already clasping her friend's arm in a viselike grip. For his part, Naruto was thankfully quiet throughout the whole exchange.
"I'm afraid we can't let you do that-" Bird Man explained but was cut off by Sasuke.
"Under our supervision, we will get Naruto to the Hokage as she demands," then, as if he didn't want to say, he added, "You have my word."
And that was saying something. Sasuke was the second youngest to be appointed the role of ANBU captain at just 19, only second to his brother Itachi, but no one ever seemed to bring this information up in front of the last-surviving Uchiha unless they intended to die.
Even so, Sasuke's title as the next supposed captain was up for debate. Tsunade wasn't the one who disagreed with the issue. It was her, after all, who suggested him the idea. It was the picky council, and surprisingly, Sasuke himself, that were adamant about the decision.
It seemed not even the tight group that made up the Tactical Squad knew about his indecision because the two ANBU nodded and retreated in a gust of smoke.
Finally, after the three teammates resumed their walk, heading in the opposite direction than they were originally intending to go and instead heading towards the Hokage Tower, Naruto finally spoke. "Does your word have any authority to back it up considering you're not captain yet?" Because even the idiotic blockhead knew the truth.
Sasuke shrugged as Sakura said, "It got them to shut up, didn't it?"
Sakura knocked on the door two times before hearing the 'Come in' from inside and doing as it said. Team 7 entered and awaited for the blonde woman to look up from her paperwork in silence.
As she did so to take in the three in her office, there was a pause before Tsunade stated, "You two aren't the ones I appointed in bringing Naruto to me," referring to Sasuke and Sakura, then bent back down to sign a form.
Sakura smiled and said, "We know," and nothing more. There was more silence in where the only sound heard in the small room was the shuffling of papers, the ticking clock, and Tonton snoring beside her. Naruto almost snapped at the quietness of it all but reframed himself from doing so. A major feat for the hyper ninja.
At last, the last of the papers were done, patted on the desk to keep them aligned, and stored in a drawer behind the desk. Only then did Tsunade speak. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"
The three nodded and approached closer to the desk.
"As you may or may not have heard yet, there are rumors of a potential danger inside the village that have lead to…this." She waved her arms before her. "Whether the accusations that have been brought forth to me are true, I cannot say for sure."
"Lady Tsunade, what exactly are these accusations?" Sakura wondered.
But Tsunade didn't answer right away. In fact, she took her time looking from Sasuke's stoic face, to Sakura's anxious one, and finally to the confused blond whom Tsunade herself was trying very hard to save.
Lacing her fingers in front of her face, Tsunade began to explain, "The rumors speak of a man with a rap sheet as long as the Five Great Shinobi Nations put together."
Naruto gave a low whistle. "That's long," he commented.
Tsunade nodded her blonde head. "It's an exaggeration, of course. However, his crimes are not and this man's reputation proceeds him." Pulling a folder as thick as her wrists out from the bottom drawer, Tsunade placed the folder atop her desk but didn't bother opening it. She had read up on this man many times and had memorized every terror this monster had sprouted in his wake.
She said, with closed eyes, "Arson, aggravated assault, robbery, rape, kidnapping, ransoms, prostitution and counterfeit rings, first- and second-degree manslaughter, drug trafficking and distribution and manufacturing, embezzlement, extortion -and this is just the tip of the fucking iceberg!"
For a long minute, there was silence as Tsunade calmed herself down with an exhale of breath, absentmindedly rubbing Tonton's back as he began to stir from her shout.
Then: "So, what does this have to do with me?" Naruto asked in a small voice. So far, he didn't like where this was going. Not one bit.
Sakura and Sasuke mentally nodded. They, too, wanted to know the meaning of all this. If Tsunade was getting so many reports from more than half the people in the village claiming to be seeing this monster running amuck, coupled by the crazy woman's outburst in the restaurant of wanting Naruto dead, that could only mean…
"Naruto," Tsunade turned hard blue eyes on the boy. "I have a warrant for your arrest."
For a good two solid minutes, no one said anything. Then Sakura was the one to say, her voice low, as if afraid to permanently shatter her opportunity, "Tsunade, you can't believe these... accusations, can you?"
The Fifth reclined back into her chair as her eyes scanned each of the shinobi in front of her and told them what she herself couldn't believe as fact. "More than half the village has described a man with spiky blond hair, blue eyes, whiskers, and orange getup. More than half! What would you want me to believe? How would you like me to retaliate?"
"With common sense, of course!" Sakura stepped forwards and grabbed open the file. She was met with picture after picture of different females, all of them naked, all of them corpses. She ignored those and instead took hold of the man's information.
"It says here this guy was starting his reign of terror almost 13 years ago. We couldn't have been more than six years old and Naruto was at the Academy at that time, we all were. The rumor that Naruto was or is committing these heinous acts of violence is not even remotely plausible let alone possible!"
"Yes, I understand the timeline is askew," Tsunade grumbled, massaging her temples.
Sakura opened her mouth to say something, then promptly closed it. When she opened her mouth again to speak, her voice was soft, understanding. "You knew the time and age were off. How, then, can you suspect it's Naruto to begin with? With just visual sightings? And from civilians, no less?"
Sakura was clearly overstepping her bounds, bent over the woman's desk as she was, questioning their leader's choice. But Sakura wanted to get down to the bottom of this. Tsunade knew very well of how Naruto's past had been. The loneliness, the sadness, the grief. If she thought Naruto was going to live in fear again, she was mistaken, because Sakura was going to do her damnest to keep that from ever happening to her friend again.
No more.
Sasuke took the opportunity of silence to step forth and lightly touched his teammate's elbow, just enough for her to break her heated gaze from Tsunade's and turn expectantly at the Uchiha.
Calm down, his facial expression read. You won't get anywhere with pushing her too far.
We won't get anywhere with being submissive, either! her expression countered back.
Sasuke sighed heavily and looked briefly at Tsunade before looking down at the folder that was displayed for all to see on the desk. Turning his head slightly over his shoulder to make sure Naruto hadn't seen the disturbing images, Sasuke stepped in front of the blonds' sight to block out the folder entirely as he said, "It seems you have enough evidence to arrest Naruto, then."
Sakura couldn't have been more surprised if Sasuke broke out into a song-and-dance routine right in front of her; she was so shocked.
"WHAT?" came the incredulous reply from the topic of choice. "Sasuke, you bastard! You're suppose to be helping me, not condemning me!"
But the Uchiha didn't seem the least bit fazed by his friend's words. Holding up his hand to ward off another round with Naruto, Sasuke continued, addressing the blonde woman. "Godaime, with all do respect?"
Tsunade raised a blonde eyebrow. "Go on?"
"I purpose at least two from the Tactical Squad to keep Naruto under observation. After all, visual reports are not valid evidence in any courtroom."
"Who said anything about a trial?" Tsunade mumbled before saying, more loudly so all could hear, "Thinking like a true Captain, Uchiha. Alright, I have made my decision. Naruto will be free to roam the streets of Konoha, but only with the ANBU supervision."
"Babysitting?" Naruto's whine was cutoff by a sharp jab at his gut, courtesy of Sakura. "So who's keeping my tabs?" The blond ask, rubbing his stomach and sending his pink-haired friend a look of displeasure. She ignored him.
"You won't know the identities of your guards, nor do they have any permission of interacting with you. That being said, you are to stay clear and away from trouble? Do you understand, Naruto? I don't want to have to put you under house arrest because you can't control yourself but if I must, I will."
Naruto nodded in absolute, gulping down loudly as he did.
"Good! Now that that matter has been settled, leave. I have work that still needs doing."
As the Team Seven began heading towards the door, Tsunade's voice called out, "Oh, Sakura, could you stay for a moment?"
Sasuke's hand was holding the door open for Sakura when he looked at her with dark eyes, a question forming.
Will you be okay?
Sakura's own eyes softened at his concern. How is okay 'okay' with Tsunade? She joked, trying to reassure him.
Sasuke nodded and proceeded to walk out, a happy Naruto already chatting about spending his day at Ichiraku for some much needed ramen and inviting Sasuke. Sasuke scoffed, and was the last thing Sakura heard before closing the door behind her.
"How are things at the hospital going?" Tsunade asked once she heard the click of the doorframe.
Oh, Sakura's eyes slanted at her sensei. I see what's going on.
"Very good. We have everything under control. Nurses have been treating patients like clockwork and the interns are complaining less and less. On the whole, the hospital seems to be getting back to normal but…" she waited before continuing, "that's not why you called me to stay behind, was it?"
"So things have been good, over all?" Tsunade questioned distractedly, picking Tonton up and setting him on her lap. He gave a squeal of contentment.
"They're far enough away now, Lady Tsunade. You can tell me the real reason for why I'm here."
"Everything working alright with the Uchiha?"
The Hokage's apprentice crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her hip. "You certainly are spacey today."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually." Setting the pig down on her chair Tsunade stood and went to lean in front of her desk, closer to her pupil. "He treating you well?"
Sakura hopped Tsunade didn't notice the way her shoulders stiffened at her question. "As well as a teammate treats his fellow comrade," Sakura said evasively enough.
"But you're not, are you? Just teammates, I mean. Maybe…more?" Hazel brown eyes trained on her student like a predator fixed on its prey.
"Nothing less," Sakura hissed.
"I don't like him," Tsunade commented unhelpfully, clearly missing Sakura's drop-it expression. "Too arrogant for his own good. Overconfident little prick-"
"Lady Tsunade!" Flustered Sakura. "If you don't like him, that's fine. But I'm not going to stand here listening to you telling me that my teammate is going around raping girls while badmouthing the other. Tell me, are you really going to arrest Naruto, or not?"
"Not…until there's more solid evidence linking Naruto directly. I may loathe the Uchiha but his intelligence, skill, and authority is exactly what we need for role as Captain. That's why I granted him permission for his plan to play itself out."
"Wait, you mean, you don't trust him, and yet you're letting him take control of the whole Tactical Squad?"
"It's not that I total distrust him…more like…"
"Dislike," Sakura sighed. She should've known her sensei only offered Sasuke the seat of power to see him fail miserably. Sakura wondered is she should warn him, not as his secret lover, but as his friend.
One problem at a time, she concluded as she said, "Do Sasuke and I have the job to keep an eye on Naruto?"
Tsunade slowly started to nod. "Yes, however." Tsunade's hard eyes locked onto Sakura's, willing her to understand the danger she was getting herself into. "Be careful, Sakura. You may think you know someone, but in the end, who's to say they aren't going to plunge a kunai behind your back when it's turned?"