Chapter 4: Sins Too Easily Forgiven
Upon exiting the detainment center, Sasuke noted that it was dark outside. The air had that special kind of stillness that one associated with the dead of night. Since his cell had been sorely lacking in windows or any way of keeping track of the time, he wouldn't have been surprised in the least if it had been three or four o'clock in the morning.
Steps echoing in the empty streets, he sullenly followed his old teacher toward the hospital. Glancing around the village, he noticed that not much had changed in his absence. It was a bit strange, though. In a way, he had hoped that the village would have reflected the changes he himself had undergone, but sure enough, much remained the same. Granted, there were a few new shops here and there, but overall, the village was exactly as it had been when he left it so long ago.
"Before we get your assignment underway," Kakashi suddenly said, "there are a few things you need to know about Sakura's condition."
"Hn." Sasuke knew that this conversation was inevitable, so it was probably best to just get it out of the way, so he could get this whole fiasco over with.
"The nature of her initial injury was a malignant form of chakra corruption," Kakashi tonelessly explained. If Sasuke hadn't known better, he would have assumed that he didn't really care what had happened to the pink haired kunoichi. But he knew how his mentor viewed his comrades and how it must have eaten him alive to have one of his direct subordinates fall into such a state.
"Her attacker went specifically after her eyes," the jounin continued. "We're not sure the how or why of it because Sakura has been unconscious for the past week, but now that she's regained consciousness, we can get a more detailed report from her.
"From what Lady Tsunade has gathered, the foreign chakra infected Sakura's own chakra network and began to poison it, turning her own chakra against her, slowly killing her from the inside out. The spread was designed to be slow - and excruciatingly painful." He paused for a moment, lost in the memory of Sakura writhing on the ground, clawing at her own eyes in a futile attempt to relieve the pain. Shaking his head to clear the demons dwelling there, he continued. "Luckily, when we arrived at her location, the spread hadn't advanced very far, but it was steadily making its way through her optic nerves and into her brain. When we came upon you and Itachi," Sasuke flinched at the mention of his treacherous older brother, "I made the decision to remove her eyes and replace them with Itachi's, in an attempt to halt the corruption and buy us some time to get her back home."
Sasuke had to wonder, though. He knew that Kakashi had experience in this sort of field surgery, since that was how he had obtained his own Sharingan. But did that mean that Sakura would be like Kakashi? He had full use of not only the Sharingan, but the Mangekyou Sharingan as well. Would Sakura be able to use it too? It pissed him off, if he was to be honest with himself. If anyone had earned the right to wield the Mangekyou Sharingan, it was –
"SAAASUKEEEEE!"
Whipping around toward the bellowing scream, he knew exactly who would be stupid enough to yell so obnoxiously in the middle of the night, no doubt waking everyone in a ten block radius.
"Really, Naruto?" Kakashi could only shake his head at the predictable antics of his student. "I thought you were told that Sasuke's return to the village was to be kept a secret until all of the details had been put into place and a cover story approved of. What part of 'top secret' don't you understand?"
"Well, I happened to see you guys walking and I figured that had all been taken care of already, seeing as the prick here isn't in chains," Naruto responded with a grin, crossing his arms behind his head.
With a sigh, Sasuke glared at him. "That still doesn't give you a reason to scream my name in the middle of the night, for the whole village to hear. Moron." Turning, he continued walking down the street, wishing for this night to be over with already. "How did you know I was getting out tonight, anyway? I didn't even know until Kakashi came and let me out."
"Ha!" he loudly laughed, "If I can't figure out something as simple as that, I have no right to call myself the future Hokage!"
"You parked yourself outside the prison and waited, didn't you?" Seeing Naruto's grin falter, Sasuke smirked. "Tell me, how many nights have you been lurking outside, waiting for the right time?"
"…. Nevermind that." Naruto hastily changed the subject, knowing that Sasuke would never let him live it down if he knew that he'd been spending every night since their return camped on the roof of the building facing the prison, waiting for his best friend to be released. "Where are you guys going now? Escorting this bastard home? You do realize, Kakashi-sensei, that his old apartment is in the opposite direction, right?" He pointed down an alleyway opposite them.
"No, you loser," Sasuke retorted, "We're going to the hospital."
Naruto perked up. "You're going to see Sakura? She's awake?" He started running full bore toward the looming building ahead of them. "What are you waiting for? Let's go-"
Yanked backwards by a fist on the collar of his shirt, he fell to the ground and looked up at his exasperated sensei. "What gives, Kakashi-sensei? Sakura's probably waiting for us to show up!"
"Naruto," he murmured, "not only is it the middle of the night, but she just woke up. She's probably not going to be up for much socializing, especially your special brand of it. Go home. You can see her tomorrow, once she's had a chance to give her mission report and for Lady Tsunade to begin her rehabilitation."
"But Kakash-"
"Just let him come," Sasuke interrupted the ensuing tirade. "You know you can't keep him away for long, so it's best if he gets it out of his system now before he does any irreparable damage – especially to our eardrums."
Groaning in resignation, Kakashi wiped his hand down his masked face, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. "Fine. But you can't stay long, Naruto. Sakura needs her rest for the ordeal to come."
Confused, he cocked his head. "What ordeal?"
With a sadistic smirk on his face, Sasuke responded, "When she's released from the hospital, Sakura will be living with me while I help her gain control of her Sharingan."
Leaving him indignantly sputtering behind him while Kakashi explained the conditions of his release, he recalled the last time Team 7 had been together. It had been months ago, but the memory of that encounter was a bit fuzzy.
He remembered his run-in with his "replacement", blowing a hole in the hideout's roof while trying to kill the pasty-faced bastard, and Sakura running out into the crater to attack the bastard. Narrowing his eyes, he recalled the way she didn't even notice he was there; she was too focused on screaming at her new teammate about betrayal. He had gotten pissed that she completely ignored him and said only her name, immediately cutting her tirade short.
The look of pure shock on her face had been priceless. Even now, he could clearly recall the way her eyes widened and her lips shaped his name in a breathy whisper. She had definitely grown up, he had acknowledged while looking her up and down. Her hair had still been worn short, but he admitted that the style suited her; it drew attention to her leaf colored eyes. Eyes that even then stared up at him with hope and despair in equal measure.
The hope in her eyes had filled him with nothing but contempt. Looking back on it now, Sasuke was surprised that her expression had affected him so adversely. It was as if just by seeing her face, his mind was predisposed to despise her. He had always known that she was weak and a hinderance to him, but that level of animosity had been unwarranted.
When Naruto had barged onto the scene, Sasuke's shoulder had really begun to ache, as if in response to the boy's presence. When his replacement began spouting some nonsense about the bonds he had shared with his old team, the only thing that he had been able to think about was his own weakness. Those bonds had been nothing but a noose around his neck, which was why he had severed them. The only bond he had wanted was the bond of hatred he had shared with his brother.
Considering his previous stance on the matter, it was a bit odd that he had so easily fallen back into old habits with Naruto. Turning his gaze to look at the loud-mouthed blond, he remembered how he had blatantly told him that the only reason he had spared his life was because he refused to follow in his brother's footsteps.
In reality, it had been a difficult decision not to kill him. Everything in his mind was screaming at him to kill the boy. The curse mark on his shoulder had been causing him tremendous pain, stabbing at his mind and obscuring his intention to let him live. When the pain had been too much to bear, bringing Sasuke to his knees, he had been inches away from Naruto's face. That closeness had been enough to light a beacon in his mind and clear the poison coursing through his thoughts. He had let his rival live because he just couldn't murder his best friend in cold blood. He just couldn't do it. But he could never admit to that weakness.
How could he be so forgiving, Sasuke ponders, looking away from the brash ninja who was still yelling at Kakashi about the unsavory arrangement between Sasuke and Sakura. On more than one occasion, Sasuke had tried to kill him, but it was is the moron didn't care. Nobody could be that tolerant.
Finally tired of listening to the loser's constant nagging, Sasuke stalked up to him and with one swift motion, pinned the idiot against a nearby wall by his shirt.
"Would you just shut up already? There is nothing you can do about it, so you belly aching about it is only going to be a waste of your time and do nothing but piss me off." With a jerk, he brought him right up to his face, snarling, "Do you think I like this any more than you do? You're not the one who has to live with the harpy. You're not the one who has to take care of the weakling while staring at the eyes of your family's murderer in her face every… single… day…"
Silenced by the venom spewing from the Uchiha's mouth, Naruto miraculously shut his mouth. He hadn't thought about how Sasuke would handle the whole thing. He only cared that Sakura, his Sakura, was going to be living with the anal-retentive asshole.
Releasing his shirt with a shove, Sasuke stormed off, calling to Kakashi to hurry up and get this over with.
Naruto realized then that he would have to keep a close eye on his teammates. There was a distinct possibility that between Sakura's temper and Sasuke's resentment of having to keep seeing his brother in her, they could very well end up killing each other.
They're lucky I love them both so much, he chuckled to himself, rushing to catch up with the others as they entered the building in front of him.
Next time, on Truth - Sakura's blindfold comes off, she learns of Sasuke's deal, and she gets some unexpected visitors.
-Thank you everyone for reading this tale I have to tell. It has taken me by the throat and won't let me go, so I'm pretty much posting as soon as I finish a chapter, just so you all can enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Considering this is my first attempt at writing PERIOD, the response I've gotten so far makes me so happy.
That being said, I've already got the next chapter finished, so if you were to leave me some words of encouragement (or constructive criticism, please, I want to know how to make this story the best that it can be), I may be persuaded to post the next chapter before Tuesday. Leave me some love, and you too shall be rewarded 3