Chapter 2 – We Need Them!
Crow,
Don't think that I didn't pick up on your teasing comment at the end of your letter! Usually, I write the reports for not only myself, but also Whiskers and Dog. I learned not too long after being on the same team as them that neither are to be trusted with writing their own reports. One always manages to spill ramen on it (when he can be bothered to even write one up) whereas the other always hands them in late. One time, Dog managed to hand a report in over three months late.
I still don't understand why Shishou hasn't punched a hole through his chest. I can tell she's losing her patience with him. I can also tell that she knows I'm the one writing their reports as it's not that hard to notice the same, scruffy handwriting, but she doesn't question me or bring it up. It makes her life easier, I suppose. I'm glad. I don't know how Whiskers is going to cope when he takes over.
Don't be that way! I saw a picture of you and Taka when you were both younger. Your mother was showing me the pictures and I have to say, you were both rather adorable.
I already grilled him about overusing his abilities and Taka has agreed to start taking it easy. I had to explain to him about the possibility of him going blind. He didn't seem to like that. He went all quiet and brooding – more so than usual. I promise I will take care of your brother and like I told Taka, I will do everything I possibly can to prevent him from going blind, but I don't have much information on the technique and Taka doesn't seem entirely comfortable with me asking your father. So until his eyes are healed, we are playing the waiting game. Hopefully the damage caused won't be permanent. I don't think I would be able to tell Taka if it was.
I'll keep you updated on the latest gossip, Crow-san! I know that that is what you're secretly asking for. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me and luckily for you, my best friend just so happens to be the biggest gossip in the village. Also, Taka warned me already about not going into too much detail, telling me that I could be putting you at risk. Does that include gossip? If so, then poor you. Your heart must be breaking.
Your mother is a very understanding woman, Crow-san. Of course she would understand if I punch her youngest son through the wall. He's been treating her like she's nothing more than a slave recently. I swear that jerk thinks he's royalty or something of the sort. I told him to quit treating her that way, as she seems rather busy, but your mother would simply smile and accept it. She's a saint, Crow-san. A saint! I would have lost my temper long ago.
Yeah, I can't help but apologise. It's sort of a habit that I picked up and once I put pen to paper, it's like the words just flow out of me and onto the page. Strange, right?
Oh that friend I was just telling you about abuses that particular technique all the time. Just the other day she did it just to give me the details of her latest fling. I think I would abuse the ability, but at the same time, I wouldn't. I want to know what people are thinking about me, even if the truth hurts me, but then again, everybody deserves their privacy. What about you? Would you abuse such a gift?
I can see Taka calling Whiskers "the idiot". As for "Cherry"… Well, it's not too hard to guess why he called me that, right? It's partly the reason why I chose the name myself. It's simple and it'd make it easier for you to remember who I am, despite the fact that we have never spoken face-to-face. I don't think that we have, anyway. Unless that one time you answered the door to me counts. Does it? We didn't speak for very long. I'd say ten seconds, really, since Taka appeared and demanded that we left for training.
It's great to hear that you're well! Make sure you're all well rested before you set out again. Doctor's orders! Can't have you all getting sick.
My concern is necessary. I can't help but worry. Years of being on a team with your brother, Whiskers and a sensei who could be on death's door and still refuse to seek medical attention, taught me to be that way.
Reply as soon as you can. Taka is quite restless. I don't think he likes being on strict bed rest. He likes hearing from you, though. So do I!
Be safe,
Cherry.
It was strange standing amongst the lovers for the men who were on the same mission as Itachi. They were all clutching their letters tightly to their chests but the moment the chunin who collected the mail reached for their letters, they all but threw them at him, like they were desperate for them to reach their men. That didn't surprise Sakura. There was no telling what day would be your last in their line of work.
Smiling politely, she handed over the letter to the chunin, who returned her smile before he moved onto the next woman.
Due to it being imperative to keep their positions hidden, there were certain times during the week that you could send your letters off. Every Tuesday afternoon. The messenger bird carried letters twice a week (to and from) and was disguised to look like nothing more than an average bird. Only certain shinobi from Konoha could distinguish it and pick it out from the others.
It was crowded in the waiting room at the Hokage tower. All letters were inspected by Tsunade before being sent, to make sure that nothing was revealed if their enemies got their hands on the letters. If that happened they could be in big trouble. Considering that most of the other women were civilians it shouldn't have been necessary, but Sakura could understand. She could also understand why Tsunade had taken it upon herself to inspect the letters instead of ordering the chunin before them to do it.
Letters were personal and sometimes, people found it easier to speak with one another when writing down their feelings. Sometimes, the contents of the letters were not so pure (and the chunin standing not too far from her seemed to be only fourteen). Tsunade knew that feeling of longing and there was no judgement in her eyes. She understood them. What she read, never left her mind. In fact it made her fight harder to protect their village, to protect the love she had once experienced, yet lost all too soon, before she and Dan even had the chance to experience it fully.
Also, Tsunade was always sober when she read the letters. It wasn't until after she had been through them all that she started drinking. Despite knowing that her shishou wouldn't appreciate it, Sakura couldn't help but pity her. It couldn't be easy going through those letters, of reading about a love she had wanted to keep. Sakura wasn't sure what she would do if she was in Tsunade's place.
Sighing, Sakura left the Hokage tower.
The men who were away on that certain mission had been gone for over seven months now. Sometimes they were allowed a week or so to return home and see their loved ones, but it was a rare thing to happen. They were staying along the border of Fire Country, watching and waiting for enemies.
Lately, things hadn't been too good between Konoha and Iwa. At first it had started with small disagreements. However, it wasn't long until things began to heat up and turn deadly. It didn't help that the Tsuchikage and the Hokage were both stubborn, hardheaded people. They refused to stand down or give up – their pride would not allow it. Not to mention that some of the things the Tsuchikage was asking for, were preposterous. He wanted more from them, more than what they could give.
The other hidden villages were not getting involved, although the Kazekage had told them that if they needed his help, he would help from within the shadows. Sakura couldn't blame Gaara for being so cautious as he was still being closely watched. Not many trusted him as Kazekage because not only was he the youngest there had ever been, but he was also the jinchūriki for Shukaku. Over the years he had learned how to control Shukaku, but they were still wary of him, wondering if one day Gaara would snap and go back to his old ways.
There was no telling how long the teams who were sent to the border would be gone for, but there was no helping that. They were some of their best shinobi and Tsunade trusted them with protecting their village, their nation. Sasuke had mentioned to her before that this wasn't the longest Itachi had been away on a mission before (over eighteen months was his longest) but Sakura hadn't failed to notice the twitch between his eyebrows, like they wanted to mash together so that he could scowl.
He missed his brother. It was as simple as that.
Altogether there were seven base camps spread out along the border and according to Sasuke, Itachi's team were staying at base camp four. They were in the dead centre and you would have to be a fool to try and attack there. It had been Shikamaru's strategy. Their enemies would believe that they would put their strongest around the edges, believing that Iwa would try a sneak attack but instead they would ambush base camp four and barge their way into their nation. What Iwa didn't know, however, was that there were three geniuses staying at base camp four. Uchiha Itachi and Shisui as well as Hyuuga Neji.
The only reason Sakura knew about them was because she had been there during the meeting with Tsunade, Shizune and Shikamaru where they were decided. There was also two other teams staying at base camp four, but Sakura only knew four of the shinobi. Their temporary captain, Yamato. A member of ANBU who had filled in for Naruto when he left to train with Jiraiya. His name was Sai. The other two were Izumo and Kotetsu. They were there for official business, like the stuff they helped Tsunade with. She didn't know the rest. They were all male, though. As far as she was aware of, no kunoichi had been sent to the border. She wasn't sure why. Perhaps they weren't needed? It wouldn't be that surprising considering just who the teams were made up of. They were all prodigies and geniuses in their own rights.
It still seemed rather sexist to her. However, given who their Hokage was and the fact that she hated chauvinistic pigs, Sakura knew that it wasn't sexism. Maybe it really was that kunoichi weren't needed? Again, when you look at who had been chosen…
Yeah, they weren't needed.
"Sakura!"
Sakura frowned as she stopped walking and glanced over her shoulder, but then smiled politely when she noticed it was Tenten calling her name, running towards her and waving her hand in the air. They had never really spoken before and on the few times that they had, they had been on a mission, meaning they couldn't stand around chatting. Sakura couldn't see Tenten doing such a thing even if they hadn't been on a mission. Yes, the girl was bubbly when she wanted to be, but she was also fierce and determined – just like her fiancé. Well, he wasn't bubbly. Sakura had to bite back a smirk at the thought of him being bubbly.
"What's up?" Sakura smiled when Tenten finally reached her. It didn't take too long.
"I saw you just now, at the Hokage tower?" The younger kunoichi nodded, hearing the small note of doubt in Tenten's voice. "I didn't know you had somebody you know in the teams on the border. Well, besides Kakashi-sensei, but I never would have thought that he was the type to write letters."
"He would if they were about his books." She rolled her eyes before adding, "I've written to Kakashi–sensei a few times, but his replies are always so vague and slow. I still write to him, just not as much. He's quite busy." Like always. "I was actually sending a letter to Itachi-san."
Tenten's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "Uchiha Itachi?" she demanded and Sakura nodded slowly. "B-But why him?"
It didn't completely surprise Sakura that Tenten was so shocked, as Itachi was well-known in Konoha for being a loner and not only that, but his aura alone was intimidating, scaring off the weaker shinobi who couldn't handle being in his presence. There was only a handful of people who could get passed that aura and it saddened Sakura that it had to be that way for Itachi. Apparently what they said about geniuses was true – they had a hard time interacting with those below them. It wasn't because they believed themselves to be better (even if it did seem that way) it was because they just couldn't be understood. Most geniuses were antisocial. According to what Sasuke had once told her, Itachi was one of those.
Whenever Sakura spotted Itachi around Konoha, he was always alone or with another Uchiha named Shisui. They were both geniuses and from what she had heard, they were best friends, too. An unstoppable team. Rumour had it that many shinobi had given up when they found out they were facing Shisui and Itachi – some even say that the shinobi killed themselves before the Uchiha team could do it. Hopefully those were just rumours. She couldn't even begin to imagine the horror of watching somebody take their own life because they were too scared to fight you. It would make her feel like a monster.
Knowing that Sasuke wouldn't appreciate her telling anybody about his current predicament, Sakura smiled and shrugged. "Itachi-san is nice to talk to, despite what people say about him."
"I see." The brunette frowned.
Before she could ask any more questions, for Sakura could see the suspicion and curiosity in her chocolate brown eyes, she asked, "So how's Neji-san?" He was on Itachi's team. Yet another deadly addition. If the Uchiha men didn't get the opponents, then Neji definitely would. Nobody escaped his eyes, just like nobody escaped an Uchiha's. "You were sending a letter to him?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah." Tenten smiled, her frown and suspicion disappearing, although not completely. That was fine. Just as long as Tenten didn't try asking any more questions. If she let it slip that Sasuke had damaged his eyes badly, then he would never forgive Sakura. In fact, the moment he was better, he would ask her if she wanted to spar one-on-one before kicking her ass into the ground. "Neji's doing fine. I was informing him on everything Lee has been doing. Gai-sensei, too, before he was also sent to the border. Deep down, I think he misses hanging around with them."
Sakura couldn't help but smile. "He grew up with their…"
"Youthfulness," she groaned. "Just don't say it too loud, Lee might hear you–"
"Tenten, we're–" a loud, unmistakable voice cut off and a bright smile graced his lips. "Sakura-san!"
Wow. Sakura blinked in surprise as Lee seemed to appear out of nowhere. Could he really hear when people were talking about youth? It sounded like some sort of creepy, sixth sense or something.
"Lee-san."
"I told you," Tenten said with a knowing look before turning to Lee. "What is it?"
"We have a mission," he stated, as loud and as energetic as always. Lee was currently hopping from foot to foot, looking impatient to get going. "We're going to base camp four!"
Tenten's eyes widened and her own bright smile graced her lips. "We are? Why?"
"There has been some suspicious activity and they need us," Lee exclaimed and then looked down at the younger kunoichi. "Sakura-san, Tsunade-sama wishes to see you immediately. She says that it is important."
Important? What, did she lose her sake again? Sighing, Sakura nodded once, said her goodbyes and good lucks, before once again returning to the Hokage Tower. It was so strange. Even though she barely knew her, Sakura felt happy for Tenten. She hadn't failed to notice the happiness in her brown eyes when she heard the news. Being in love like she and Neji were had to nice. To her, Neji seemed cold and distant, sometimes downright unapproachable, but maybe he acted differently when alone with Tenten? After all, Sasuke acted differently when with his team. He was more open with them than he was with anyone else.
When she arrived at the Hokage Tower, it surprised her to find it so empty. There were no longer women crowding around the waiting area or standing by the entrance and the previous, loud chatter was now replaced with a silence that made her ears feel as though they were ringing. They cleared out pretty fast, didn't they?
Sakura knocked once on the door of Tsunade's office and once given the permission to enter, she did so silently, shutting the door behind her.
"Sakura."
"You wished to see me, Shishou?"
The blonde was sat at her desk, the letters for those at the camps piled neatly on one side of the desk. Much to Sakura's surprise, neither Shizune nor Tonton were in sight. It wasn't all that strange, but Sakura hadn't been aware that Shizune was sent out on a mission. The reason she knew that it was a mission and not work at the hospital was because today Sakura was supposed to be working at the hospital. Shizune was not on today's rota. In fact, she had no shifts for an entire week.
"How are Sasuke's eyes doing?"
Straight to the point like always. Tsunade hadn't even glanced up at her. "They're still highly sensitive to light and need more time to heal. I do what I can, but I don't have enough information on the Sharingan to try anything risky." She couldn't take the risk of damaging Sasuke's eyes further. "The most I can do for him is relieve him of the pain and gradually heal the chakra burns."
"I see." Tsunade sighed, finally looking up as she folded her hands and covered her lips with them. "And you have no information on the Sharingan at all? Besides the research I already gave you?" Sakura shook her head, feeling a little disappointed with herself because of that fact. If she had more information, if she could somehow talk Fugaku into giving her at least a tiny amount of details, then she could possibly save Sasuke's eyes and any other Uchiha who was experiencing the same thing. "What about Kakashi's Sharingan? Have you ever worked on that?" Sakura nodded, but the grimace on her features told Tsunade she didn't have much information. None that was important or anything she didn't already know, anyway. "Damn it."
Sakura winced. "I can keep trying to talk Fugaku–"
"No. That would take far too long," the blonde practically growled as she sat back in her seat. "That bastard is as stubborn as I am and we need information on the Sharingan now."
There was an urgency to her voice, making Sakura's body tense. "Why the rush?"
"Uchiha Shisui's eyes are deteriorating at a fast pace due to how much he has been using them. As you probably already know, he is one of few Uchiha who possess the Mangekyō Sharingan. With this type of Sharingan, he can use a certain technique that allows him to control the mind without anybody even realising it."
"And Shisui-san has been using that technique to prevent fights, making the enemy retreat." Tsunade nodded once, gritting her teeth. "How badly are his eyes damaged, Shishou?"
"Bad enough that he can barely see a thing when his Sharingan is deactivated."
How could he have allowed it to get so bad? Why hadn't Shisui ever informed the Hokage about his damaged eyes? Just as that thought came to mind, so did the reminder that Shisui was an Uchiha. Like other Uchiha, he was too proud to ever admit that he was in pain. He would rather stay there and go blind while defending Konoha rather than leaving and eventually going blind. At least, this way, he was doing everything he possibly could to protect their village.
"What about Itachi-san's eyes?" Sakura asked after a moment of silence. "He possesses the Mangekyō too, doesn't he?" She was certain Sasuke had mentioned something about it before.
Tsunade nodded. "According to Itachi and Shisui, one can unlock the Mangekyō when they experience the trauma of losing somebody the care for. For Shisui, as far as I'm aware of, it had been his parents. For Itachi, it had been when Orochimaru attacked the village during the chunin exams and attempted to place a cursed seal on Sasuke."
There had been no attempting. Orochimaru had put the cursed seal on Sasuke and her teammate had almost abandoned the village, but somehow, not too long afterwards, it had disappeared and he never thought about leaving again. Sakura had no idea how the hell that happened, but she knew that it had had something to do with Itachi and Shisui. Anko, too, surprisingly.
"Sakura, I want you to be prepared to get called to base camp four within the next couple of weeks. I would rather we wait for Sasuke to be healed, as I want to send Team Seven, but if he is not healed in the next fortnight, you will be leaving without him and I will add a temporary member to your team. Is that understood?"
Temporary teammates or teams weren't too bad if she already knew them. When Sai had been on their team for several months, it had been uncomfortable because he and Sasuke didn't get on with one another. Sai had been placed on the team in Naruto's absence, as he had gone to train with Jiraiya for a while and she and Sasuke didn't want to stop going on missions and gaining more experience. That time wasn't particularly nice to remember, as Sasuke had been distant, had been considering taking Orochimaru up on his offer, but thankfully, he never did. Instead he trained with Kakashi and not only him, but also Anko and Itachi every now and then.
However, Sasuke wouldn't be happy to hear that she would be going to base camp four without him.
It seemed these next two weeks, Sakura was going to have to do a lot of digging to try and find whatever information she could.
Great.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama. Is there anything else?"
"Actually, there is." Her tone took on a teasing note as Tsunade lifted a certain letter. "Since when were you and Itachi pen pals?"
The smirk on Tsunade's face made Sakura blush as she looked at the ground sheepishly. "You're not supposed to use those letters against people, Shishou."
"Oh, I know." The blonde shrugged and her smirk only widened as Sakura continued to blush. "You're simply fun to tease. Almost as much as that Uchiha brat."
Sasuke. Tsunade enjoyed tormenting him, always saying crass things because, in her eyes, he was a prude. Sakura had to admit that it was pretty funny seeing him blush, as not a lot of people could make such a thing happen.
When it became obvious that Sakura was not going to reply, Tsunade sighed. "Don't mention in your next letter that you will be going to base camp four, Sakura. If somebody gets their hands on that letter, then you will be putting the entire camp as well as your team at risk. Do you understand?" Sakura nodded. "For now, I have sent Team Gai to base camp four. When they return and fill me in on the extent of how badly Shisui's eyes are damaged, I will make my decision. I would rather wait a month or two, to give you the chance to try and get as much information and research as you possibly can, but we need Shisui and Itachi in top condition, Sakura. They are two of our most powerful shinobi. We cannot allow for either of them to lose their Sharingan."
It was a scary thought knowing that it pretty much all depended on her to make sure she saved their sight. Tsunade couldn't go out to the borders because not only did she need to stay in the village in case of an attack, but it was also far too dangerous for her to go to the borders. The amount of shinobi that had been killed for trying to pass the borders with their mission of assassinating the Hokage, was ridiculous. But they could never trace it back to the Tsuchikage and to accuse him of such a thing outright would cause a lot of trouble.
"I'll speak with Sasuke-kun again and see if he can give me any information, but do I mention anything about Itachi-san and Shisui-san's eyes?"
For a moment, there was silence, telling her that Tsunade was thinking carefully about what to do. On one hand, telling Sasuke that his brother could lose his sight if Sakura didn't get that information, could save a lot of trouble of trying to persuade him. On the other hand, however, there was a chance that Itachi wouldn't want his family to know such a thing, or for anybody to know such a thing. The fact that not only his eyes, but also Shisui's, were deteriorating, meant that they now had a weakness. They probably had a couple that nobody knew about, but now this one was going to dominate all other weaknesses.
Unless Sakura could do her research, there was no doubt in Tsunade's mind that both Uchiha would eventually go blind. Simply overusing the ordinary Sharingan, or even the Byakugan, caused serious damage and burned out the eyes with chakra. What the hell sort of damage could the Mangekyō do? Tsunade didn't want to know, but it was her job to find out. It was now Sakura's job to find out, too.
She couldn't ask Itachi over their letters. Not only would he most likely ignore her for it, but if the letters got into the wrong hands, then they would have a serious problem. So that ruled out that possibility. There was only so much that Sasuke could tell Sakura and they couldn't risk having his clan class him as a traitor for handing over the already gathered research – it would crush Sasuke because his clan meant everything to him. Tsunade knew that Sakura wouldn't even consider doing something as risky as that.
"For now, work with whatever you have." Tsunade sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "I will summon Fugaku and make up a story about how many within his clan are losing their sight and unless we can continue with our research, they will continue to lose their sight until eventually, no Uchiha will be capable of seeing."
Sounded a little dramatic, Sakura thought with an inward grimace. Would Fugaku believe such a lie? "Perhaps you should say those with a more advanced Sharingan, Tsunade-sama," Sakura told her shishou honestly. "It will be hinting at Shisui-san and Itachi-san, but at the same time, also at himself." After all, Fugaku didn't become head of the clan from simply sitting on his ass all day. No he didn't possess the Mangekyō, but his Sharingan was still powerful and not to be underestimated.
"Very well." She nodded. "Now go and see what you can get out of that brat. Come back to me with your results and we'll work from there."
A/N – I don't think I have much to say... There was definitely something, but I can't remember now. So annoying. Oh well! If I remember, I'll post it in the next chapter.
HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! :-)
