"You called for me, Hokage-sama?
"Hai, Uchiha. I believe it's quite the bad news." Tsunade said sternly.
"What could be worse than losing Sakura?" The Hokage can't help but to smile at the Uchiha. He changed drastically since he got together with her student. Of course, she's happy for sakura too, she treated her not just as an apprentice but also as her own daughter.
Her smile turned upside down. "He's alive."
Sasuk'es body began to tense, sweat moistened his palms. He completely understood but he couldn't accept the dreaded truth. "How? I threw him a fatal blow! He shouldn't have survived my attack."
Tsunade knew how Sasuke felt at the moment. He was desparate in achieving his goal, he tool any kind of measure, may it be killing his allies, abandoning his past or cutting of his bonds. Knowing that he has failed must've caused a great impact on him. " I want Uchiha Itachi dead as much as you do but what we want is different from reality. I received a report that your brother was spotted last week near Konoha's gates, the place Sakura found you, exactly two years before." Sasuke raised an eybrow." I didn't tell you before because I want to confirm his existence and sadly it's an affirmative."
"Does Naruto know about this?" Sasuke asked.
The Hokage shook her head. "Nobody except the people in this room knows about it. I don't want any information to leak because surely, it'll spread like wild fire."
'Hokage-sama, I will-"
"I know. You want to go and kill your brother…again but this time make sure you don't let him escape."
"What do you mean?" Sasuke's brows furrowed.
"With the help of the Research Team, we were able to infer this. A week before your arrival here, I sent Naruto in a mission to annihilate my former team mate, Orochimaru. Five days later, he found Orochimaru but he's already dead. We autopsied his body and found Uchiha Itachi's blood on it. Naruto returned here a day after you arrived."
"Hn. Elaborate how Naruto's mission and my failure in killing my brother connected."
"Naruto found Orochimaru's body in Tanzaku Quarters, the once peaceful village the Snake-sennin destroyed .When we questioned you about your battle with Itachi, you told me that your fight took place at the Abandoned Uchiha Stringhold. There were a lot of holes in your story. You mentioned that after the battle, you found yourself in the woods near Konoha but how is that possible? The Team discussed about it and inferred two things: There's a possibility that you were under his genjutsu since the beginning of your fight or you weren't able to kill him and he saved and brought you to the forest."Tsunade took a long breath and began to talk again. "Tanzaku Quarters is a three day trip to Konoha and Konoha's woods are wide so it'll probably take a day to get through it. Considering your weakened state, it took you two days to reach the gate."
Realization hit Sasuke. In the midst of his battle with Itachi, his brother must've did something and went after Orochimaru. They're right, all of the events are connected and led to one thing, Itachi's alive, and he not only killed Orochimaru but also saved him but the question is…why?
"I will go after him. I'll leave tonight."
"That was fast. Did you not think about how Sakura might react when she finds out about this?"
Sasuke bit his lip, he thought of Sakura but she didn't want her to go with him. It'll be too painful to lose her during the mission. He must leave his emotions behind. "Yes, I want you to take care of her for me."
"Sigh. I get it. This is an S-Rank mission. There is no time limit just keep in contact, if we lose contact of you by one month…we'll be considering you dead." It was hard for Tsunade to say the last part, she's worried about Sakura but as a Hokage she must be strict and keep in line with the rules. 'These are the times I hate being Hokage' she thought
"Thank you and please do not tell her anything. I love her too much."
Sakura's already familiar with this situation, Sasuke will take long before going home. She can't be a burden to Sasuke, she must show her support because she knows that he loves her and he's doing it for their sake.
"Sasuke-kun. I won't be giving you an answer. I'll say it when you return so that way you have something to reach." She laughed between tears, she's being strong for her love. After all, she doesn't want a very painful parting.
"Yeah…wait a little longer, Sakura…-chan. I'll return for you. My heart is always with you. I'll always love you." He kissed her. "I love you too." Sasuke disappeared into the woods.
Sakura touched her lips."Is this the last?" she whispers.
