AN: Hi, readers. This is the most recent chapter (in case you couldn't figure that much out), and it will once again follow Sakura. I know some of you will get really tired of following the former little-miss-useless for more than a chapter, but I really want to give a glimpse into what Konoha has become under the controlling, militaristic dictatorship of the dreaded Danzou. Please tell me what you think of it. I'm not gonna lie: the last 1/3 to 1/4 of this is really graphic (as in violent, not smut). Enjoy.

Another Tale of Namikaze Naruto

Chapter Four: It's Been So Long

Annd...Itss...Done! There we go! A whole stack of discharge forms. All done, now just a study session with Tsunade-shishou and I'm done for the day. I sighed as I clicked the pen shut and started putting away this darkest side of medicine. I stood up and turned to walk out of my office. One last look at the picture of Naruto on my desk and I was out. Where are you? I shook off these thoughts as I walked down the hallway. I failed. It's been three years! Why aren't you home yet? Please tell me you're still alive! God I'm a mess. Three years after the love of my love is declared dead by the entire village, and just because of some fingerprints on my mirror I can't move on and whenever I even considering looking at a man I always see Naruto and start crying. Can't say how many first dates that's ruined. Not that I really wanted to go on them anyway. Ino and Tsunade-sama really have a knack for setting me up with ugly slobs. Maybe they think that if I liked Naruto I'd like those pieces of trash. I chuckled and felt angry and guilty all at the same time.

To make matters worse, suddenly I was at the head of the Konoha Medical Division's office and staring blankly at my sensei with my mind miles away. Tsunade had long ago awaken from her coma and had not been allowed to take the office of Hokage back from Danzou. "Hello-o... Earth to Sakura?"

"Oh!" I caught myself. "Hi, Tsunade-sama."

"Did you bring those documents?" I drew a blank for a second.

"Oh... Oh right." I shuffled through my bag, hoping to not reveal my flustered state further.

Shishou seemed more amused than annoyed. "Where the hell are you today?"

I handed her the papers and began taking out my medical ninjutsu kit to prepare for practice. "I just have a lot on my mind and things are bugging the crap out of me." She seemed surprised by this. I guess I was normally a pretty even woman with everything except men. I thought I could see the gears turning. I could tell this would be one of those days. One of the ones where the people close to me would try to make me forget about Naruto, thus making me remember him more and top it all off with me crying myself to sleep tonight. And I thought today could be a good day. Okay I totally didn't, but still.

"Hmm." A twinkle in her eye. Here it comes. "Can't get a certain black haired storefront owner off your mind?" What?

"Wait... What?"

"The guy I set you up with last weekend."

"Oh wait... big guy, doesn't talk much?" About as attractive as a squid left out in the sun for a week?

"Yeah him!!! Can't seem to stop thinking about him?" Sometimes I really hate my sensei.

"He was fat and ugly, he belched randomly and actually had the nerve to ask me to go halfsies!"

"I thought he was charming. Anyway, if that's not it, then what is?" I hesitated. "We need to get this over with so we can do your training, now out with it."

It pained me to even bring it up. "Well... It's been over three years since Naruto disapp--" Oh shit. I covered my mouth to try and stop myself but it was too late. Seriousness passed over Tsunade's face.

"Disappeared...?" Her face was no-bullshit former Hokage now. I flashed her the carefully practiced 'the walls have ears' look we've designated since Danzou had started spying as an everyday thing. She quickly cycled through some hand signs and her confidentiality jutsu was in effect. "Sakura, what the hell are you talking about? Naruto died three years ago. His grave is marked."

"Do you actually believe that crap!?!" I have no idea what propelled this outburst, but it was coming now. I don't know what I expected her to believe. It had all the marks of just a really, really sad incident, besides the whole immediate burial thing, but she didn't have the benefit of a message from the supposedly deceased. "Did it make any sense for the kyuubi's effects to just up and kill Naruto when it had been healing him for twenty years before?"

"Sakura..." I sensed a tremor just under her voice, as if she was condemning herself or others to some sort of horrible fate. "He's dead. We've all done the best to move on. Why can't you?"

"Because what has Konoha become since he's been gone!? With Naruto went hope!!! If there's even the slightest chance he lives, we can't let it go!" I was getting dangerously close to revealing what I'd been hiding for three years.

"Sakura." Again, she seemed to contemplate, although this time, she settled on more of an inquisitive stare and I feared greatly what was to come next. "What do you know that we don't?" I wasn't getting out of this. There was no hesitation in her voice. It was "tell me what happened to my son or get the hell out.

"You're sure this jutsu is solid." She nodded, growing ever more serious and curious. I went right in with it. "There's a reason three years has significance. Three years ago in three weeks, I took a shower to try and get the tears off and he's written a message on my mirror with his finger, so it wouldn't be visible until it was just me." She did a slow gasp, trying to wrack her brain around this concept. "It said he loved me, to stay safe, to keep Danzou in check, and at the end just three years with the last part a little sloppier and done at a slightly later time." Tsunade-sama was flabbergasted. She looked like a squirrel suddenly jumped up, punched her in the face, took some jewelry, and ran off. Then, slowly but rapidly, a tinge of realization flashed across her face.

"Oh my God." Her eyes moved back and forth in quick succession and looked at me a couple of times. It was like she was debating with herself. She seemed to come up with an answer. "Sakura, I think it's time to let you in on a few things." What the hell? I'm her apprentice; what could she have been hiding? "There have recently been... odd events." Where the hell is this going? "The main ones you haven't heard about have been the Anbu... disruptions."

"Disruptions?"

"Well, I don't exactly know what else to call them. There isn't a word for this. Abduction, attack, altercation, aggression... none of them fit!" Tsunade was thinking once again, trying to find a word that described what I'm sure is going to be extremely weird. And somehow related to Naruto.

"What happened?" There wasn't any spite or any other unwarranted stuff in that. There was only a question to which I wanted to know the answer.

"When Danzou has recently sent out patrols outside the village, they would just... fail somehow." What the hell is she talking about?

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"An entire squad of Anbu would suddenly just go unconscious when they got exactly one hundred meters from the walls without any warning and no visible harm done. None have any recollection of being knocked out; it's like they're there, then they're not there. Suddenly they wake up and it's dark out."

"That's impossible. No one besides maybe the Third in his prime could take out an entire root squad simultaneously without them having any injuries or memory of it." I was being the rational one at this point. Ain't that a rarity...

Tsunade gave me a 'but wait, there's more' look. "That's what I thought. But here's the kicker. In the back pouch of the leader of each squad was found a little stuffed fox doll." Holy fucking shit!

A couple of moments went by with me trying to understand this and Tsunade looking guilty and nervous. "And you knew about this and didn't tell me!? You knew how much I longed for Naruto and still do and you didn't tell me about this?!" I blinked and was shocked to find that a couple tears jumped off my face.

"I couldn't. KR's gonna have my ass for letting this much loose as is." Her eyes widened, as if in shock.

"What the hell is KR?"

"Nothing. Go home."


The walk home was filled with nervousness, paranoia, and good old fashioned confusion. KR, I began, careful not to think this most likely forbidden knowledge out loud. It has to be an acronym. The K must stand for Konoha. What could be this organization that has this much influence on Tsunade-sama? I looked around as if for a clue in my everyday surroundings. Much to my surprise, I found one in a propaganda poster that I'd seen often but never really looked at. The prominent message was, "Resistance is criminal. All who support are enemies of the village." above a picture of Danzou looking picturesque and overly dignified. Of course.

A resistance group in Konoha. It all made sense suddenly. The increased spying, amped up propaganda, random arrests, suspension of habeas corpus, all of it. Danzou was scared, especially with his top cronies passing out randomly in the forest on routine patrols. He probably thinks it's the work of the KR, and just thinking about someone being that powerful could make an enemy shit himself or leave a potential lover moist and wanting. Oh God.


I got home and had a relaxing rest of the day and evening until I went to take out the trash. I was taking the few steps back to my front door and suddenly felt a chakra spike. I felt a quick hit to the back of my neck and was out cold.

I woke up in a dark room, chained to a concrete slab in the middle of it. It was cold. Suddenly I realized I was in my bra and panties. Was I about to be raped?

"Haruno Sakura." An Anbu stepped up to my side and turned my head rather forcefully. "You are accused of knowing information pertaining to the Resistance in Konoha. Even a basis for suspicion or any tie to a person you have a suspicion of being involved with said resistance is worth your life to find. Will you tell us?" The voice was overly dark and gravelly, disproportionate to the slime frame. The hair was well hidden.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I yelled, half-authentically. "What is the meaning of this!? I am a citizen of Konoha! End this immediately!"

"Your rights as of this moment are suspended by executive order of the Hokage. Do you have any information of the Resistance?"

"Fuck no! Let me go!!!"

"You are hiding something. Tell us what it is, or we will be forced to turn to torture."

"You wouldn't dare." My voice was saturated with hate.

He nodded to another Anbu that came over to my bare back, armed with a knife. "Tell us now and end any requirement for this."

"When the public hears of this, Danzou and all of you are going to fry!!!"

"That shouldn't be an issue. Besides, you died approximately two hours ago." At this point, the Anbu put the knife a quarter of an inch into my skin and raggedly carved. I saw red and all thoughts were turned to mush. After a full minute, I was left with the word "DO" carved into my left shoulder blade and blood pouring down the left half of my bare back. I had been screaming.

"TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW!" Rage filled me.

"I don't know anything!" Then the first Anbu nodded to the second again. He inserted the knife a third of an inch deep this time and cleaved the word NOT into my right upper back. I screamed my lungs out and began to convulse. Just don't turn around and look at it...GAAAAAH!! I was struggling to retain coherence and not give them anything.

"You can end all of this by just telling us what you know!"

"F-Fuck You!!!" He shook his head and nodded again to the torturer. He put the knife half an inch deep and cut RE.

"Come on!!!" He sounded like he was getting frustrated. An altered scream was my defiance. I suddenly felt the knife again, now three fourths of an inch deep. It cut SI. I could feel it bumpily going through my tissue, leaving gash in its wake and unaccountable pain in its shadow.

"This is your last chance!!! Tell us or you won't be spared!!!" If Naruto didn't give up after all these years of pain, then I couldn't after these couple minutes.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" They were both really frustrated.

"You've made your decision. You won't live to regret it." He was so calm. Suddenly the knife went a full inch deep and divided my back with the letters ST. The knife was so deep I couldn't feel the tip of it anymore. It felt more like my back was a sheet that this man was unbearably slowly tearing through, causing blood to spill out in torrents. My entire body was raking nails down adjacent chalkboards with pain. My knees and elbows were scraped and bloody from thrashing to what extent I could in the chains. My fingernails and toenails were torn off from grinding them against the concrete I was laying on. My entire body below my back was caked with a ridiculous amount of blood.

"ALL OF YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR THIS AND I KNOW WHO WILL MAKE YOU!!!!!" I screamed this with the only energy left in me. I passed out and the last thing I saw was a bunch of confused movement and a flash of... light blond hair?

AN: Wow. If I may say so, I think that may be the best chapter I've written so far. I'm officially changing the rating to M to protect the fragile thirteen year olds who actually care whether something's rated M. I admit that last bit was pretty heavy though. I'm going to be keeping Sakura's POV a little bit longer than I'd originally thought, but it'll get to Naruto. Thanks for reading and please, please review. I'd like to know what you guys think of the torture scene as well as the dialog (too dark, awesomely dark, gratuitously violent, etc.) I'll probably have the next chapter out next weekish. Thanks and have a wonderful week.