Metamorphosis

Written and typed by LittleMissEffervescent

Chapter Four

Talking Among Strangers

They could not have the worst possible sense of timing. It was only during the moments when she required as much energy as possible that they both decide to pay her a completely unexpected and totally unwanted—at least in her opinion—visit.

Refraining from gnashing her teeth lividly, Sakura sat staring at Naruto, then swiveled her gaze to Sasuke, her face void of anything remotely friendly. She had come across them rather frequently today and, of course, was quite alarmed when she spotted the familiar crop of blond hair and, even more surprisingly, Sasuke's form as she flew back into the village. Though her initial reaction was something along the lines of introducing Sasuke's face to her newly purchased spiked heel boots, Sakura managed to rein control, shoving aside her pounding impulses and preparing to take care of the matters at hand... all the while, managing to get the satisfaction of launching something fairly heavy at Sasuke.

But now, she needed clarifications. Sakura stood, walking briskly out of her office tent, past the anxious and exhausted looking nurse and the Hospital Bay tent, leaving Naruto to trail after her, confusion most likely lining his face. She was, however, quite aware of the fact that Naruto was dragging Sasuke by his shirt collar behind him.

Sakura marched swiftly though the rows and rows of tents, across the desolate dirt crater surrounding the campsite, flying past what little of the front gates remained, and entered the Hokage Mansion, her face flinty. With a desperate call of her name—attempting to get her attention, no doubt—Naruto pursued Sakura, despite her rapid pace and Sasuke's hissed protests to release his shirt collar.

Ignoring them, Sakura entered the doorway of her master's office and shut the door behind her firmly. Due to her past experiences with Naruto's sense of diplomacy, Sakura wasn't surprised when both men, Naruto leading with Sasuke being pulled in behind him, pushed open the door and stepped inside. Tsunade had a minute twitch in her left eye, an involuntary reaction she displayed when she was either extremely angry or severely alcohol deprived. Taking in light of what the village had to go through the past few weeks, Sakura had a feeling it was both.

It wasn't much of a planned action as it was simply a habit when both Sakura and Tsunade's gazes wheeled around to stare at the men steely. Naruto was looking at them both expectantly, urging them to discuss whatever issue they were about to address and Sasuke simply wrenched himself out of Naruto's grip and stared at the two, his expression controlled and indifferent. Casting an appraising glower, Sakura was able to confer to Tsunade exactly what her problem was effortlessly.

The Hokage sighed haggardly and Sasuke didn't think that was a positive sign... not if the pulsing twitch on her left eye was already any indication.

"I assume the reason you burst into my office so suddenly has some apparent connection with those two?"

Naruto appeared just as perplexed as Sasuke felt. He was pacing restlessly back and forth in the hallway, his pace steadily gaining speed as Sasuke leaned silently against the wall beside the office door. Even though Naruto wasn't saying anything, Sasuke could tell how anxious he was – it was rare for Naruto to keep his silence, but given the circumstances, Sasuke wasn't surprised. The look on both Sakura and Tsunade's expressions before they kicked both of the men out of the office was enough to silence even Naruto's spirit.

They could only guess half-heartedly about what Sakura was discussing with the Hokage, but the only thing Sasuke and Naruto were absolutely positive about were that they were the main subject.

It was then that the door to Tsunade's office swung open and Sakura stepped out. Sasuke was only dimly aware of the rather foreboding glimmer in the Hokage's expression – it was the absolutely exhausted and completely resigned look Sakura donned that had his attention – it stirred something within him. Something that he told himself was suspicion but was dangerously close to worry.

After closing the door, Sakura turned back to Naruto and Sasuke and stared at them, her gaze swiveling between them before settling somewhere in between both men's shoulders. Naruto frowned—Sakura was openly avoiding eye contact, which meant that she either avoiding direct contact with them, physically or verbally, or she was just very, very angry at them. Frankly, Naruto wasn't sure of which one he would prefer less.

"I've got to get you two up to speed about what's been going on, whether you like it or not, so just follow me quietly and try not to draw attention to yourselves."

So it was narrowed down to either she was avoiding eye contact out of dislike of having to touch them somehow, or Sakura was just that furious with them. Perfect.

Managing not to draw attention to oneself was much more difficult than Sakura had initially advised, Sasuke though uneasily – something tugged at the dark edges of his mind, keeping him paranoid. It haunted him with hisses of the familiarity Sasuke grew accustomed to during his stay in Sound, the constant suspicion that he had forced past the outer seams of his mind. The only thing keeping it at bay was the utter determination to push himself to his very limits, to prepare himself for the finalization of his goal.

Here, in Konoha, there was nothing keeping him from noticing the cautious, guarded looks from each and every shinobi he and Naruto passed as they rapidly trailed after Sakura. He couldn't help but be naturally annoyed.

Naruto nudged Sasuke quickly, though still keeping his eyes carefully tacked on Sakura's back, most likely out of fear she would outpace them and leave them stranded in a rather crowded square of tents. "Where are we going?" Then, he frowned – although he hadn't turned his gaze toward Sasuke, he was still aware of the wrenching cringe as Sasuke stepped away from Naruto's arm. Seemed Uchiha Sasuke still wasn't accustomed to things he'd been deprived of the past four years, one of them being actual physical contact with another human being that was not attempting to harm him bodily.

"Just wait until we get there and find out," Sasuke said bluntly, nodding to the medic walking before them.

"Do you think it involves food?"

Strangely enough, it did.

Sakura had guided them inside the Mess Hall tent and, after indicating for them to sit down on one of the empty tables, walked behind a counter, preparing something that neither Naruto nor Sasuke could see, no matter how much they craned their necks. Though Naruto was the only one to try and strain his neck in an attempt to peek.

They found out soon enough – Sakura walked back around the counter, producing two identical and extremely familiar cups that were steaming almost reassuringly in her hands. She placed the cups on the wooden table directly in front of Naruto along with a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks and gave him a nod.

Sasuke could almost hear Naruto grinning from ear to ear. Even if he hadn't, he couldn't ignore the sloshing and noisy slurping beside him – Naruto had dived into a cup of ramen without a thought.

Now that he was assured that Naruto would be occupied for the next couple of minutes, Sasuke took the time to examine his surroundings. The entire Mess Hall was an enormous tent and, though it looked slightly larger from the outside, Sasuke suspected there was a portion of the tent separated from the rest of the Mess Hall to actually prepare the food. The entrances of it faced the square outside where all the other main tents were situated and, as he noticed when he walked inside, there were four rows of long, wooden tables with similar-looking benches attached to them where the ninja sat to eat. There was a significant break in the middle of each long table where a space was put to lead to a second entrance at the side of the tent – the tables began a few feet from the side of the tent where the main entrance was, and ended shortly before they reached the lengthy counter where food was served and trays were collected.

The only thing Sasuke found off about the Mess Hall was that it was completely empty; the only people sitting inside were Naruto, Sakura, and himself.

Sasuke moved his speculations from his surroundings to the two people sitting at the table with him – Naruto was still gulping down his ramen, at a slightly slower pace, and Sakura seemed content with observing Naruto thoughtfully, still keeping her silence. There was one small change in her facial expression that Sasuke had failed to notice before and, now that he had, it made his stomach churn uncomfortably. She was studying Naruto with a melancholy look, a soft quirk of her lips. She seemed to look nostalgic, reminiscing on whispers of memories.

As though sensing his gaze, Sakura's eyes flickered to hold his own, and her face changed, the dim downhearted look vanished. Nothing save the color and shape of her eyes was recognizable; he had never noticed a look like that from Sakura before... but now he was staring a stranger in the face.

The longer he scrutinized the medic, the more perplexed he became. He hadn't seen Sakura for months, and most certainly hadn't had any genuine interaction with her in years but, as he saw the differences in her current appearances with what he could recollect from when they were younger, his recognition of her was almost intangible. It bothered him, along with the feeling of vulnerability, the sensation of having a part of him exposed when being met with a situation that he felt he was incapable of reacting to. Sasuke was also a tad annoyed that Naruto was still blissfully indulged in his last cup of ramen to fill the steely silence with nothing more than the noises he was currently making, which, when pushed to a certain degree, were something Sasuke deemed as completely unnecessary.

"After you finish, I'll take you to a more appropriate place. You can get your answers there."

It was direct and point-blank, it left little space for lengthy elaboration, which was exactly what Sakura was determined to avoid. She already had to plow through a subject that was still rather touchy to her and Sakura knew that it would affect Naruto just as severely as it had her. She wasn't even sure she would be capable of handling the reality of the subject she was about to approach without experiencing that strange, hypertensive cold rush she went through just weeks earlier, when she saw, firsthand, what Pein had done to her village. It was emotionally shattering and Sakura had a feeling Naruto was about to go through the same thing, if not even more aggressively than she did. Sasuke, on the other hand, she couldn't, and most certainly wouldn't, expect a similar reaction as she would Naruto – though Kakashi was Sasuke's respected mentor, Sakura had decided not to speculate how much the last few years had morphed him.

Naruto, however, seemed to simply mull over and savor the last of the aroma of ramen still wafting around him before he finally set down his wooden chopsticks, along with his second empty cup, and met Sakura's gaze straight on. She tried not to flinch to the best of her ability but it was evident that both men noticed her jerk back slightly. Sakura chose to ignore them and to focus instead on guiding them to their destination. Naruto seemed to have the same idea in mind.

"Lead the way."

The place that Sakura led Naruto and Sasuke to turned out to be the shinobi memorial, where the names of the ninja killed in action were engraved and forever honored. None of the men had an inkling of an idea why they were there but as Sakura began tracing names silently on the memorial, Sasuke could plainly see that her demeanor had changed... Somehow, in some way, her perspective had shifted – it was subtle, practically unnoticeable... but he saw it. Sasuke had seen the same changes sweep through him only months ago and he could see them tearing their way through Sakura viciously. Something had happened, something penetratingly drastic, and it had struck Sakura mercilessly. It didn't take to many guesses to figure out that the marble cenotaph towering over her was an aspect of why.

Sasuke didn't know how long they stood there, staring at that memorial, and he began wondering what Sakura's intentions were for bringing them there, when she spoke, her voice raspy and almost too quiet to hear.

"Do you know how many casualties Konoha suffered?" When neither of the young men standing behind her answered, as she expected, Sakura spoke again. "From the moment Pein infiltrated the village to the instant he left, over one hundred fifty lives were taken, well over one-third of them being ninja."

Sakura stopped tracing the all-familiar names on the memorial, and merely rested her palm on the icy marble, closing her eyes with a tired sigh. "The new names carved onto this cenotaph have some that I can't connect to faces and some that I'm not capable of even recognizing, but there are names that you two would distinguish just as well as I would."

Naruto was shaking, Sasuke could plainly see, and he was trying so desperately to gain control as he stared at Sakura's back but it only seemed to make his shaking all the more violent – Sasuke was not looking forward to what would come next, but he couldn't possibly imagine how terrifying it would be for Naruto, to find out which of those he held close were lost.

Sakura began speaking again but her voice had a new quality about it – no longer raspy and inaudible, more so monotone and thoughtless, as if she didn't need to search her memory for those names... that they were engraved into her mind like they were the memorial. She went through the names robotically as if she was listing ingredients off of a recipe.

Naruto's uncontrollable shaking had reached the point where he wasn't capable of standing and when the last two names slid off Sakura's tongue, Naruto threw up as he fell to his knees in the damp grass.

After the last of the vomit left him, Naruto raised his head as he wiped his mouth to stare at Sakura, whose back was still turned to them. Muttering incomprehensibly, Naruto attempted to stand, but his strength seemed to have abandoned him and Sasuke had to resort to grabbing his arm hastily to avoid Naruto falling face forward into the dirt. Sakura was standing before the memorial, as if oblivious to everything around her—even Naruto's retching hadn't pulled a reaction out of her.

Naruto took no notice either—he continued to stare at the medic, his mumbling becoming more and more decipherable. It wasn't until his mutters had successfully reached her ears that Sakura gave any indication of a reaction.

"It... it was my fault. They were killed because of me." Sasuke could recognize that tone—that edge of desperation and complete and utter horror that Naruto had about him when they'd first arrived in Konoha. "Pein wiped out the village looking for me... All those people... all those lives were destroyed because of me!"

Akatsuki had annihilated Konoha in their search for him. The reason half the village was dead and in absolute decimation, lay entirely on Naruto, the host of the Nine Tailed Fox, Kyuubi. Shaking his head despairingly, Naruto began sinking to his knees, as if he was no longer capable of taking his own weight. Sasuke's grip on Naruto was beginning to slip as well and he had to act quickly to readjust it before Naruto broke completely, but something appeared before him so swiftly, so suddenly that it almost made Sasuke drop Naruto entirely.

Sakura flickered in front of them, her image winking out of existence and then rematerializing before them, her face ablaze. She lurched toward them sharply, one hand slapping Sasuke's arm from around Naruto's shoulders, the other bulleting forward and grabbing Naruto's shirt viciously. She pulled him up roughly and Sasuke was amazed their foreheads hadn't collided violently from the aggressive grip Sakura had on his shirt. Frankly, Sasuke was astounded that she was able to hold Naruto up with such ease when he was still standing only halfway, meaning Sakura was hoisting up most of his weight with merely one arm.

"If you even dare to think that this... this devastation was your fault, I swear to you, Uzumaki Naruto, I'll start from your neck, end at your ankles and break every bone in between. Twice. Despite how insulting and hurtful it sounds, you contributed absolutely nothing in that fight against Pein and you did nothing to harm the village during the battle. You were training to get stronger in order to protect the village you live in and to lug that asshole back home. If you ever have the thought that you are the reason for this, you better make sure you curb it before I do." As Sakura spoke venomously, her grip seemed to tighten substantially and Naruto appeared to be shuddering, not out of fear, but due to the fact that while she was speaking, Sakura jerked his shirt forward and let go, only to jerk him forward once more, again and again, as if she was restraining herself from launching her fist at him.

"Losing part of the village was, no doubt, a devastating blow to take but it was a smaller one to take compared to letting Akatsuki get their hands on you and having every single person, be it ninja or civilian, killed. We took a sacrifice—Lady Tsunade was well aware of what kind of choice she made when she let you out of the village."

Sasuke was beginning to grow wary of Sakura lashing out violently, which was a shock in itself, but it dissipated—she seemed to have realized what she looked like she was preparing to do, what with her right hand pulled back ready to launch. Sakura looked quickly from her raised arm to Naruto's face, astonishment lighting her face at her own actions, before releasing Naruto from her grip as if their contact burned her. An odd expression flew across her features, one that Sasuke could only describe as shame, like Sakura couldn't believe she had come so close to hurting Naruto... physically, at least.

Little did Sasuke know that his assumption was, quite frankly, dead on—crushing shame coursed through Sakura as she realized how quickly and obviously she had snapped even when, just a few minutes earlier in the Mess Hall, she had vowed to herself not to slip, not to let her mask crack. The blunder made disappointment bubble in her stomach painfully. Naruto was in enough pain as it was; yelling at him was just going to fuel the fire. So, taking a deep, steadying breath, Sakura knelt to Naruto's eye level—the moment she released him from her vice-grip, Naruto had stumbled backward and landed with a thump in the grass, not unlike a child falling on the backside after they tripped—and offered her hand to him with, what Sakura hoped to be, a reassuring expression pasted on her face.

Whether or not Naruto believed her appearance, he took her hand regardless, and took a moment to be astounded when she hoisted him up with such eerie ease, it was as if he sack of wheat she was about to throw over her shoulder.

Once he steadied himself and dusted off his pants as casually as he was capable of, Naruto opened his mouth to ask a question he was sure Sakura was dreading, but she cut him off before he even began.

"I won't be able to do any further explaining to you two; I've got a job to do back at the hospital and I'm needed in another place as well. I'm sorry but you'll have to go to Tsunade soon after this to find out the rest of what's been going on." She knew it was gutless and she knew it would only disappoint both her and Naruto even more, but Sakura didn't think she would be able to stand another breakdown from Naruto like earlier. She couldn't handle watching Naruto go through that sort of pain while trying to endure her own... so, attempting to ignore Naruto's crestfallen expression and Sasuke's disbelieving stare, Sakura led them back the campsite, only, instead of taking them to Hospital Bay—where she was heading—Sakura took them to the entranceway of the Hokage Mansion property.

"This is your stop. After you're briefed by Lady Tsunade, you can just go and have dinner and then head to your tent," Sakura said before turning on her heel and walking back towards the bustling square of tents. She paused, however, when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, tugging her back gently, as a child would when their parent had forgotten something or left something behind.

It was Naruto, of course. Sakura knew mostly because Sasuke wasn't the type to initiate physical contact, be it with an enemy ninja or her, so she twisted her head around to the right and threw Naruto an inquiring glance.

He, apparently, didn't know why he held her back either, so he simply gave a nervous chuckle and let Sakura's arm go quickly. "Ah... heh. We haven't really sparred in a while, Sakura, so you think we could maybe have a session sometime soon? Maybe when your job at the hospital isn't as busy?"

Her eyes instantly softened at the hopeful look on Naruto's face and Sasuke almost felt sickened. The idiot was trying to confront her about avoiding them and, instead, he ends up asking her for a sparring session? Sasuke knew that Sakura was purposely steering clear of any sort of contact with them out of the fear of facing, not only Naruto, but herself. She was handing the more difficult job of explaining the rest of what happened to Tsunade out of cowardice... and it looked like Sakura was just as well aware of that fact as he was.

In reality, Sakura was much more than just conscious to the fact than she was comfortable with and the knowing and condescending expression attached to Sasuke's face made her want to smack it off merely for the satisfaction of actually hitting him.

Nevertheless, she gave Naruto a quick smile, giving him her affirmation, before turning her heel once more and walking briskly back to the square of tents, leaving the two young men to head up the steps into the Hokage Mansion. As they walked up the stairs, one practically charging forward in anticipation, the other nonchalantly sauntering behind with his hands stuffed resolutely in his pockets, as per usual, they were not aware of Sakura, who had paused and turned back, only to see her old teammates' backs, and the all familiar angry bitterness and shame in herself blazed as powerful as ever. She was ashamed of herself for not being able to handle the same pain Naruto was about to experience and, while the news of Kakashi and Shizune had struck her hard, Sakura had drowned all the sorrow and grief with a tunnel vision for her jobs and dedication for improvement, so now that she saw Naruto about to go through hell, the ache that had been pushed so far back returned with a vengeance, attacking her at her most vulnerable, all the while exploiting her most tender spot—Naruto.

It wouldn't help her temperament in the slightest once the Hokage gave Naruto and Sasuke the complete story of the invasion—Sakura was just as prepared to shun the sympathy as she was itching to scream obscenities at the world until her throat ripped. Though Sakura had specifically requested of Tsunade not to inform the two of information found unnecessary, the Hokage would most likely ignore it now, since Sakura practically dumped another load of work onto her without so much as an apology.

Once those two, especially Naruto, discovered how much more she had in common with them than before, there would be an unending stream of sadness for her sake, even if it was completely unspoken, it would be there for her to feel, suffocating her. Of course, Sakura was only going to expect this from Naruto—Sasuke, after all, seemed as arrogant and confident in himself as the last time she ran into him. And she had yet to exchange even a single word with the Uchiha—they've hardly even made eye contact. Sakura was deeply wary that if she did somehow begin speaking to him, it would be with her foot crushing his windpipe.

Though the thought brightened her mood considerably, the reminder of her oncoming assignment at the Torture and Interrogation Unit Building dampened it immediately. Her eyes strayed from the entrance of the Hokage Mansion, of which Sasuke and Naruto had long ago passed, to her hands, quivering in front of her. She stared at them blankly, an almost forlorn dullness in her eyes, and then, taking a deep, shuddering breath, looked upward.

"You're a coward..."

HOLY SHIT.

Kishimoto, you did not just bring them back to life, you sick bastard. (Not that I'm not absolutely thrilled Kakashi's not, you know, dead.) BUT REALLY—ARE YOU SHITTING ME? REALLY? REALLY!?

You just gotta stomp all over my dreams, don't you!?

ASDFGHFKJLADSL;F DSF

And on that note, please review. I have a feeling I'll need it. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go crawl in a corner and sob a little.

(But now that the whole invasion thing is done and over with, it's on to the imminent ass-kicking of one Uchiha Sasuke by one totally awesome Haruno Sakura. And, of course, Naruto too.)