Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. My respects for Kishimoto for creating an amazing manga full of great characters.
Chapter POV: Sasuke Uchiha
Blood. Death. Destruction. Tragedy. This is exactly what Sasuke and the rest of his teammates found when they walked into an isolated village. Sasuke knew the ninja they were following was toying with them. And now he understood why. He intentionally led them here to once more play with Sasuke's head. This was going too far though. Replicating the night that changed Sasuke's life was a low blow especially using innocent lives to get their message across. The sight disgusted him and hated how it provoked him to revisit the day he desperately is trying to let go of.
"Karin are they all dead?" Sasuke asked with a slight hope she will reply with a no.
Karin nodded. He noticed her sad and disturbed look. Sasuke knew she too had a tragic past so it didn't come as a surprise seeing her down. Sure she has many faults and he found her a pest most of the time. But she too was human with the ability to feel compassion when the time calls for it. And this was one of those rare occasions.
"Wait...I feel a faint chakra signature...Over here." Karin shouted almost happy before running. She signaled the direction of the presences she felt so her teammates could follow. On arrival they saw a young boy crying over what is assumed were his parents. The little boy was holding tightly to a woman's hand. The man and woman's corpse had splashes of blood everywhere. Their death was definitely slow and painful. Based how the boy was crying and staring at the bodies he could tell the boy witnessed their brutal death.
"Mommy...Daddy...Please wake up...PLEASE!... MOMMY...DADDY!" the little boy pleaded crying not noticing the strangers near him. Sasuke could see the same pain he once had when he was seven years old. The frustrating optimism to see his parent's eyes open when he knew it was impossible. The self hate of not being capable of changing the fate of his loved ones. The thought of living a life without them at his side through all the years of growing up. But most importantly, the fear of solitude that followed.
"Hey there kiddo..." Karin said gently moving towards the boy to avoid scaring the child. Sasuke could tell Karin was trying her hardest not to give in to her tears. She understood the loneliness the boy was feeling.
"NO GET AWAY! HAVEN'T YOU DONE ENOUGH?!...WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT?!" the boy shouted getting in front of his parent's bodies in a protection stance. His reaction to protect his family's body instead of his own life surprised Sasuke. He expected the little boy to get scared instead of confronting them head on.
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM MORE. YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME FIRST" the boy continued giving a glare Sasuke was familiar with. One that screamed hatred and thirst for blood. The boy's reaction allowed Sasuke to realize why they kept them alive. His survival wasn't a coincident.
"We won't hurt you kiddo nor your parents. We only want to help." Karin replied pleading the boy to calm down.
"LIAR! They told me the person responsible of all my people's death would soon come...A-a-and he would offer help...B-But not to accept because it's a lie..They told me only them could help me."
The boy fought the urge to sob using the suffering he felt for strength to face who he considered his enemy.
"Help with what?" Suigetsu asked. He was interested in why the boy was placing the blame on them and protecting who he had seen killed everyone. It seemed the trauma has made the boy delusional.
"Revenge" the boy glared without blinking as he looked straight into Sasuke's eyes.
"Kiddo you do realize we're not the ones who murdered your family. I'm sure you saw who did this and it sure wasn't us." Karin replied insisting to get through to the boy. She wasn't liking his demeanor nor the aura his chakra gave all of a sudden.
"They told me the only reason they killed everyone was because they were forced to. They are victims themselves."
"Why didn't you go with them?"
Unlike the rest, Suigetsu was becoming annoyed of the child. They were only trying to help. What did they get in return? Hated words and glares. Some people are so ungrateful he thought.
"Because I needed to see the face of the monster who is responsible for their death. I wanted to see face to face with Sasuke Uchiha."
Giving them no time to reply the little boy vanished alongside his parent's bodies.
"Can you believe that kid?! He is crazy. How old do you think he was anyways?" Karin immediately said with the intention to brush off any emotions the boy triggered in her.
"Not older than 10 years old" Jugo replied tapping her should as an effort to provide comfort.
"Ugh! Blaming you for the death. You weren't even here...hey Sasuke-kun where are you going?"
"They all need a proper burial."
"Man...do we have to help?" Suigetsu yawned not feeling the mood to do work.
"Suigetsu" Jugo retorted. This wasn't the time for his typical complaints.
"I know, I know...We have to support Sasuke." he mumbled with a lazy tone moving to the direction Sasuke headed.
Sasuke wasn't thrilled at the situation. Once more he was causing pain when he never meant to. The boy was right and this hurt Sasuke deeply. It was his fault innocence was ripped from the boy. He may have not physically massacred the people in the village but they were dead because they were trying to hurt him. They were objects used to break him. At first he thought getting forgiveness from team 7 was going to be the toughest part of seeking a new chance at life. But that turned out to be the easiest because they had forgiven him long before he desired it. No, the toughest part was learning to live with his past and deal with the consequences of his actions. Ever since the encountered the first ninjas who announced their plan to end him; he wondered what he did to them. Nothing came to mind though this didn't mean they were wrong. They wouldn't sacrifice their own lives nor of civilians for a senseless revenge. Perhaps he deserved the suffering he was enduring with all of the emotional attacks. However, the people they killed did not. And for those victims he needs to stop them at all cost and will accept any fate that comes with the package.
"If a monster is what they want; then they might just get it", Sasuke thought.
Sasuke understood the implications of his thoughts. Anybody would view this as regressing back to his old ways. Naruto and Sakura definitely wouldn't be too thrilled. Still, he couldn't help it. As how hard it was for him to admit; the enemy was getting their way with him. No matter how many of them were killed more of them would pop up with the same goal to destroy him. It almost felt like a cult whose whole purpose was to make his existence a living hell. He didn't know who started it all. If he did then he'd place all his efforts to find this person because surely the rest would give up. Or at least he hoped.
"How are you holding up?" a voice from afar asked walking to the direction where Sasuke was digging holes for the bodies. The orange hair teammate grabbed a shovel to help his friend with the digging.
"Fine" Sasuke replied not bothering to turn to face his teammate. He was sweating, covered with dirt and his hand showed signs of bruising with small cuts. Jugo noticed his state.
"There is no need to physically dig the holes for the dead. We can use a jutsu for this. It will save us lots of time and labor."
"It's the least I can do."
Jugo sighed. Sometimes he wished Sasuke wasn't so stubborn. Especially when he'd end up hurting himself senseless.
"Is this your way of punishing yourself? Look none of this is your fault."
"They died because they were after me. Leave it at that."
"Maybe you should consider going back home to your friends for a while."
"I don't have a home" Sasuke scolded. Saying these words disturbed him because it was an instant betrayal to Naruto and Sakura. He didn't mean to say it so fast. Yet he did because his mind was conflicted with everything. Again he noticed how the whole ordeal was affecting him.
"You don't mean that."
"My priority is to find the leader and kill whoever it is."
"I understand. But you only want to kill the leader right? To avoid more casualties?"
"No. I want to show the leader what it means to truly break someone before killing."
Sasuke was still frozen in the same place Sakura had announced her full support to him with a seal in the form of a kiss. A gesture where her soft rosy lips touched his scarred cold cheeks. He felt her sincerity in her touch among other things he had yet to identify. For some reason this brought peace within him. She was able to calm his nerves in a single moment which he found annoying. It reminded of the time when she was able to calm his darkness when he was consumed during the chunin exams upon seeing her beat up state. He desired nothing more than to shed the blood of the person who dared touch her. No he wanted more than that. He wanted to break the fool in an unforgettable agonized way for hurting her. Yet with her touch and plead he was able to retrieve from that cynical desire back to his old self. Somehow this girl with pink hair had some sort of power over him he wasn't liking one bit.
Sasuke soon snapped out of his trance when he felt three unknown chakra signatures in the same direction Sakura had left to gather the herbs. He instantly started running to her side while cursing himself for not going with her in the first place. As he was running he saw birds flying out of the trees implying a fight. His heart began to beat faster and faster fearing the worst.
Snap out of it. She is more than capable. Damn it! Why didn't you just go with her instead of being stupid.
Before he reached Sakura he noticed one of the chakra he had sensed disappeared increasing his impatience.
"Sakura" he shouted when he reached her location. Sasuke was relief when he saw Sakura standing in front of two bodies lying in a hole she obviously made with her immense strength. She was smiling with her hand on her waist with a proud look as the wind was caressing her face. Not that it matter but in that moment Sasuke immediate thought was how beautiful she stood there in victory.
"Oh hey Sasuke, took you long enough" Sakura teased snapping Sasuke out of his current admiration towards her. Her attention soon shifted to the two men she defeated. Sasuke couldn't help but give them a death glare for attempting to hurt his teammate.
"Alright gentlemen, since playtime is over I think it's time to get serious. Why did you attack me?" she asked changing her smile to a death glare. One that matches Sasuke's or so he thought. At the sight of her glare and fist filled with chakra the two men in the hole gulped. They knew what they were in for if they angered the kunoichi. This amused Sasuke.
"W-we...t-thought you were the enemy" one of them answered attempting to get himself to a more comforting position.
"Enemy?" Sasuke intervened raising an eyebrow. Hearing this was strange because who on earth would think Sakura was an enemy. By looking at the two men it was obvious they weren't rogue shinobi. Their eyes nor their behaviors showed any intent of malice. They even wore a headband of an allied village. Therefore they wouldn't initiate an attack unless they felt threatened. Sakura may have anger issues when her buttons are pushed but there is no way she would come off as a threat during first impressions. If anything, she always has been sweet and cheerful when meeting strangers surprising them when she reveals her angry side. This only means they attacked on sight because they already had considered her an enemy before finding her.
"Yes. You see we have close ties to this village. At a inn nearby we were told by several shinobi that this village was under attacked and they were on the way of saving it from the perpetrators. So we came to help. They mentioned the leader was a kunoichi with pink hair. When we saw you picking up herbs we saw an opening to strike so we took it. Then we saw your headband from the hidden village of the leaf and realized our mistake. We are sorry."
Sasuke has never liked being wrong but in this case he was hoping he was. She was a target. He had the urge to interrogate them. He resisted because he knew they were only pawns to whoever targeted Sakura so they couldn't have the answers he needed. The best they can do is describe who they talked with. But they were probably smart enough to use a jutsu to change appearance. The possibility of them being idiots did cross Sasuke's mind. However, he sensed a third chakra and only two shinobi fought Sakura. Obviously someone else was watching the whole scene; most likely gathering intel on her. Something an idiot wouldn't do especially when they only left after Sasuke got closer to Sakura's position. What bothered Sasuke more was how these strangers held the knowledge of Sakura's whereabouts. It seems they had silently visited the village making him hate himself for not noticing.
"Sasuke can you see with your eyes if they are under any transformation jutsu?" Sakura asked the poker face teammate who was focused in his thoughts. He nodded.
"Wait...What?! We're allies. See?" The other shinobi who hadn't gotten up blurted and pointed to his headband as evidence. He was displeased with the famous eyes being used against them. The other shinobi gave the same feared expression.
"Sorry guys we need to verify you're not the enemy in disguise. Besides it won't hurt."
"They are good. I think they speak the truth."
The two shinobi sighed with relief at this confirmation. They soon found the strength to jump out of the hole when they were able to feel better from the beating they received from the kunoichi.
"It seems our friends are coming for round 2. They probably wanted to test the waters by sending these two over. If they knew I was here then how in the world did we not sense them before. And why me? No offense Sasuke but my first guess would be you since you're the first one who came to the village's aid."
He couldn't agree more with Sakura on why she was the target. If they had seen her then they had seen him for sure. Yet she was the one being pointed at and not him. He soon remembered how his past enemies used others to hurt him. Inside he panicked considering the possibility history could repeat itself except this time they would hurt her to get to him.
Could it be?! No they are gone. They were killed long ago. But again we never found 'his' body. What if 'he' survived and started to recruit?
"Could be someone else" he muttered without intending to. When he realized what he said he hoped she hadn't heard him.
Stop thinking about this! They are history. 'He' is history. My nightmares is the only reminiscence of that time.
"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned with eyes on him.
She discovered the poison. This could by why she was targeted and not me.
"Nothing" Sasuke replied with a cold tone. He wanted Sakura to drop the conversation and knew he could accomplish this being cold to her.
Tch. No matter how much I want to abandon the possibility of 'him' being the culprit I can't. I shouldn't have never brought her here.
"You just said it could be someone else. Doesn't sound like nothing to me."
"Let it go Sakura!" Sasuke hissed annoyed at her insistence. He felt bad for replying to her in a rude tone. The hurt facial expression didn't help with his guilt. But he had to so she can stop pestering him on the subject.
"See? I wasn't wrong when I said you're acting strange." Sakura said using a soft and offended tone.
"Then stop being so annoying ... I'm heading to the village. Follow me if you please."
I'm sorry Sakura...
Sakura was dumbfounded with Sasuke's mood change. She thought she was getting through to him with the moment they had earlier. They had spoken calmly to the point he let her get closer to him as a friend. She even sensed worried when he found her with the two shinobi's. So hearing his harsh voice and walking away as always confused her. She should be angry with him but something was telling her not to. Her conclusion was he was keeping a secret from her; maybe even from Naruto. It seems she will need to have a long chat with her best friend when he arrived.
"You two, I think it's best you come to the village with us. You can rest there and gather supplies. And while you're at it you can describe the shinobi's you encountered."
The two shinobi nodded and she picked up her bags with the herbs she needed. They all followed Sasuke to the village. Without knowing both Sasuke and Sakura had the same bad feeling that something was about to go wrong.
Author's Note: Oh man, are we going to see the return of dark Sasuke-kun?! Thanks all who's following this story and for comments received :)!
