Chapter 3
Day 189: The Revelation
Sasuke scratched the seal at his neck, trying to make the itch and the burning go away. It was a nuisance he hadn't expected to deal with. He felt like some weak, good-for-nothing civilian. He hated it more than he let on. Although Yoshida had figured it out right away.
The middle-aged man pushed his heavy glasses up the bridge of his nose, reminding Sasuke of Kabuto. He repressed a shiver and pawed at the seal instead.
"I've heard those are very uncomfortable." Yoshida pointed with his pen at his neck.
If he didn't need him for his freedom, Sasuke would have shoved that stupid pen down his throat. Show him uncomfortable.
"Well, its been a good session, you've talked more than usual. Sixty-three words, I think it's a record." the doctor smiled and set aside his notepad. "Now, this is off the record. What do you want to talk about?"
Sasuke shot him a cursory glance before looking out the window at the view of Konoha--and his ANBU guard sitting on a ledge. The winding strips of buildings looked picturesque against the Hokage Monument. This must have been prime real-estate. "Nothing."
Yoshida wet his lips and combed a hand through the gray of his hair, "Well, there has to be something. Has anybody told you what's happened since you left?"
Still not looking at him, Sasuke scoffed, "I've been in jail for two months, you, Ibiki, and Tsunade have been my only source of conversation, conversations that revolved around me, my sentence, and my mental health. I haven't really heard much about Konoha."
"Okay, how about we start with ranks." Yoshida didn't wait for Sasuke to acknowledge him, "I have quite a few shinobi patients and my son is a ninja himself. He keeps me updated with the happenings in your world."
"Who's your son?"
Yoshida shook his head, "I don't think you know him, he's from a later class, just made chuunin."
Sasuke caught the pride in his voice and thought of his own father. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard that sort of admiration from him.
"Sakura-sama was your teammate, correct?"
Sasuke almost asked him why in the world he was calling Sakura 'sama'.
"She's a jounin now, ANBU member."
His eyes snapped onto Yoshida and he had to keep his head from doing the same. "Haruno Sakura? ANBU?" The two just didn't fit together. "She works in the office?"
Yoshida answered with a small smile, "She's a medic-nin for them, high ranking and very capable. Might make captain next year. My son's infatuated with her."
He turned to face the doctor. "Impossible." The weak, clingy Sakura he knew, an ANBU runner-up for captain? Were they letting anyone join these days?
"Well, I suppose the girl you left behind would have never been ANBU material, but his death affected her very much."
Sasuke wrinkled his brow, "Who's death?" The way Yoshida paled didn't settle well with his stomach. "Who's death," he repeated, genuinely interested--for once.
The doctor cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. With one last hesitant lick of his lips he said, "Don't you know already?"
An unwanted warning was singing through Sasuke's blood. "Obviously not."
"I'm so sorry, but your friend, Uzumaki-san passed away some time ago."
He didn't know how to react. In part, he didn't. Naruto had been a boy he'd known when he was 13, and any brotherhood they'd formed had lessened through the years. But he'd been his friend once, and loyalty called to him. "This better not be a joke," he finally managed.
"I wasn't aware you didn't know." Yoshida offered quietly.
"That idiot would have never gotten himself killed. You must have him mistaken for someone else."
It was the only explanation that made sense to him. The dobe was as likely to die as he was apt to beg.
Yoshida, looked at him cautiously. "Uzumaki Naruto, orphan, Hatake-san's student, member of Team Seven."
Each fact rang true. He knew he shouldn't care, he'd tried to kill the Dobe himself. But, thinking of him dead was unfathomable. It made sense now why there hadn't been a head of blond hair harassing him every minute of every day he'd been in jail.
Sasuke stood slowly from his chair, numb, angry that he felt something and angrier that he couldn't feel anything more. Honestly, he was more upset about Tsunade keeping him in the dark. "Do you have that file ready for the Hokage?"
"You don't have to take it," Yoshida began,
Sasuke shrugged the words off, "that's fine."
Rummaging through a drawer, Yoshida pulled out the folder and passed it to the outstretched hand across his desk.
With the straightening of his shirt, Sasuke walked out of the office, file clutched in one hand. Yoshida stayed silent as he left.
It only took him ten minutes to get to the Hokage tower. Even without chakra his feet carried him fast enough. The ANBU guards trailed closely behind, feeling the dangerous blackness of his aura. He pushed at it, tried to settle it, only to have it rage brighter under his attempts. He scowled when he couldn't figure out why the remaining wisps of energy were churning; they pulsed all the stronger for his confusion.
Shizune was trying to wrangle the Hokage's pet pig away from her workspace as he came in. Her arms, loaded with a squirming blob of pink, couldn't stop the blur of a very unsettled Uchiha from jarring open the door to Tsunade's office.
The woman, sitting comfortably behind her desk looked up at him through narrowed eyes, sparing an apologetic Shizune a swift glare. Hearing her pig drop to the floor in an undignified squeal, Tsunade focused on Uchiha, pocketing her glasses with the speed and skill of someone used to hiding them. "To what do I owe this interruption?"
Sasuke moved to her desk and she watched him warily. Setting the file down, he took a step back, and in his usual tone pointed it out, "dropped by to bring you Yoshida's file."
Tsunade took in his stance, it was casual, back bent and arms resting within his pockets, but there was tension in his frame; the faint wisps of chakra not subdued by the seal were swirling in chaos. "And you delivered it personally," skepticism bled into her voice, "is this supposed to be a show of good faith?"
He scoffed, "hardly." Pausing for a moment, Sasuke looked behind her towards the window, then let his gaze shift to the floor, "Why didn't you tell me."
"Tell you what?" Her words were flat, mind focused on the work in front of her.
"That Naruto's dead." The words fell tonelessly from his mouth and Tsunade's head rose slowly to meet his gaze. "When I first spoke to you I mentioned him, I said 'he survived." You didn't think it appropriate to correct me?"
"You never asked about them." She shot back coolly.
"What else should I know. Is Kakashi dead too, or maybe he's a missing nin."
Tsunade was just about to reply when the sight of pink caught her eye. This was just perfect.
Uchiha turned around and found a thin woman standing behind him. Her uniform was torn with blood and grime, her ANBU mask streaked with travel dust and splintered down the side, pieces missing. It hid her face and green eyes well, despite the damage. But he knew well enough by the disheveled, pink braid of hair who it was. She seemed frozen by his presence. Ten years didn't do anything to lessen the shock. The scroll in her hand crackled beneath her grip. Afraid of crumbling her report, she stepped around him to place it on Tsunade's desk, with a bow she moved back. "The mission was successful. There were no casualties or serious injuries. Collateral damage was minimal."
He was surprised by the levelness of her voice, the strength of it.
Tsunade looked between her, him, and her paperwork, finally settling her gaze on the scroll and reaching to unwrap it. "Sakura, take off the mask. You know it unsettles me."
"Of course, shishou." With the release of a few clasps it fell away from her face, leaving behind the gentle angles of a woman's face. He noticed the white scar on her temple. The pronounced curve of her jaw and cheekbones. "Sakura." he acknowledged.
She turned slightly towards him, "Sasuke, it's been a long time."
Everything felt so awkward, so forced. There was so much tension in the room that even the ANBU guards thought it prudent to wait beyond the double doors. Shizune excused herself, offering a 'welcome back' to Sakura before closing the door.
"You," Tsuande said pointing at Sakura, "take a seat." With a reluctant shuffle of feet, and the scrape of wood on wood, Sakura sat in front of her shishou, angling her chair away from Sasuke subtly. "You," this time she looked towards Sasuke, "need to leave or wait outside. Its very important that I listen to the details of this mission." He seemed ready to protest, but looked at the back of Sakura's head and thought better of it. "That's fine, I'm done." With one last look at her back, he strode out of the room.
"Alright," the Hokage focused her gaze on Sakura. "As you can see, you've missed some eventful things while you were gone."
Sakura kept herself as still as possible. Eventful, was an understatement.
"Uchiha, returned nearly four months ago."
"I hadn't realized I'd been gone that long." she said with a faraway look in her eyes. Four months away from home, away from him. She would visit as soon as she got out of Tsunade's office. Clarity returning, she moved her attention back to Tsunade. "Was he caught?"
"No, no. He came back voluntarily. Itachi is dead."
Tsunade watched her student over the edge of the scroll, moving her hand back and forth over the lacquered edge of the chair. "Sakura, he just found out about Naruto. I think it would be appropriate if you took him to see him."
Her hand tightened over the armrest and her voice was forced, "Sure."
The Hokage moved away from the sore spot, "Now, there's a lot you need to tell me, I'm sure, just like there's a lot I need to tell you." She fumbled around under her desk, finally hearing the clinking of earthenware. "You start, I'll pour."
Sakura had been away for too long. There were leaves and dust and dirt scattered all across his grave. It looked dirty, unkempt, neglected; an accusation against her. "Hey," she said, sweeping away some of the leaves. "I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. This place has gotten so messy while I was gone. But, you never minded a mess, so I don't think you really care either way, eh?"
Her hand skirted across the characters of his name, fingers carving along the inscription. "It was a pretty exhausting mission, but not really dangerous, just some recon. You hated those, always said they were too dull. You're right. I would have stabbed myself with a kunai if we didn't come home when we did."
Her voice died down to a whisper, "I missed you." Her forehead fell against the cool stone and she leaned into it as if it were his chest she was reclining against, as if it were his arms that would come up to wrap themselves around her waist while she listened to the sound of his heart.
Wind stirred around her and she felt his hands on her. "You missed me too?" she breathed through a smile. "You big softie." She swiped at a tear in the corner of her eye, smearing it before it could fall. "I look like a mess," she laughed. "I'll have to get another uniform again, and my hair's a disaster, four months without conditioner will do that to a girl. I probably stink as bad as you did after training." Sakura pushed herself away from the stone, splaying her legs outward and letting her weight rest on her arms behind her. Her head snapped back, face open to the blueness overhead, it was something Naruto loved, it was also the color of his eyes and a reminder that followed her tirelessly. "Would you look at that sky," she sighed, "it's starting to get a little colder now, and were getting those winter skies you like so much. Two bowels of ramen that Shikimaru's cloud-watching."
The smile on her face faltered when there was no outburst at her bet. She picked herself up from the ground and gave a kiss to her hand before setting it on the stone, right over his name. "I love you, I'll come back tomorrow. I'm bringing the Teme to come see you. Bastard's been back for months. According to the rumor mill he strolled up to the gates like he owned the place. I'll make sure to tell you about it in the morning. Oh, and Kakashi will probably pass by after his mission, you know he likes seeing you at the monument though." She blew one last kiss at the grave and walked away, turning back to wave with a cheerful, "ja ne," even though her smile was bitter wormwood and her heart heavy as lead.
