Here with another chapter! Hope you enjoy
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form.
Chapter 9: Yashamaru
Night fell upon them, and with the revelation of Sakura staying up, came Gaara's adamant insistence that he should too. And no matter how much they insisted that he stay, he held on firmly to Sakura's leg, Kakashi and Itachi looking on in trepidation as Sakura looked at them, almost as if asking what it was she should do. "We've been given firm orders not to upset him, or we don't know what might happen." Kakashi stated.
"But is it really our safest bet to carry him around at night?" Sakura muttered. Don't get her wrong, she didn't mind one bit, but something told her that her captain wouldn't be pleased with the development.
Silence ensued, almost as if both Sakura and Kakashi were waiting for Itachi's decision.
"I'll accompany you two and set my sights on our target." the implication of watching over Yashamaru's movements was clear. "Kakashi, you stay with our remaining charges. For security reasons, stay in their room tonight."
And that is how, half an hour later, Sakura found herself patrolling the streets while simultaneously giving Gaara a piggy back ride, not that he was heavy enough to even cause her discomfort. "You're not tired at all?" Sakura questioned.
"Iee." Gaara denied with a shake of his head. "I don't sleep."
She supposed she couldn't argue with that one, so she said nothing further on the matter. Itachi would check in with her every thirty minutes more or less, while simultaneously keeping Sakura updated on Yashamaru's whereabouts, and what he was doing.
Sometime between two and three, Gaara had consequently dozed off, leaving Sakura and Itachi to talk about the mission in relative privacy, among other miscellaneous topics that didn't span much further than their shinobi life style and the weather. She knew now would be the pristine time to bring up her blunder in the morning and apologize accordingly, but how was she to even bring up the topic? And what would she even say about it anyway? What could she possibly make up?
It seemed like she had no choice on the matter though. "Was everything alright this morning, Sakura-san?"
Sakura racked her brain for an excuse. "H-Hai... Everything was fine Itachi-san, gomen..." But clearly both of them knew that this was not true, and Itachi waited patiently as Sakura searched for words to articulate. "Remember that day we were sparring and I, uhh... confused you for a teammate of mine?"
It was hard not to remember, truth be told, considering it wasn't exactly that long ago. In addition, he had seen such sadness and vulnerability in her eyes, he hadn't quite been able to forget it. "Hn" he allowed her to continue, although he knew what she was implying. Truth be told, just by the look that she had given him, he could tell that her relationship with said man spanned further than "ex-teammate", although he didn't know whether this meant that they had been in a relationship or if it had been a one-sided love.
"He abandoned our team and nearly killed us through it all..."
"...Ahh..." The silenced ensued. Either one would have hurt, he knew.
Sakura couldn't help but chuckle. "I feel like I'm always apologizing to you for something I've done."
"You apologize unnecessarily." Itachi mused. "Your past is your past; I am no one to judge you for it. I should apologize for making you uncomfortable."
But Sakura shook her head fervently at this. "If I have no reason to apologize, then you don't either, Itachi-san."
"Then we'll leave it at that." Itachi gave a curt nod. "I shall return to my post. I'll see you later, Sakura-san."
And so they went their separate ways, Sakura minding her own business as she aimlessly trailed through the village, and Itachi went off to follow Yashamaru. The strange thing about it all was, that it seemed that Yashamaru was running errands for the Kazekage well into the late, late hours of the night, and in the short while he had left his post for a mere five minutes to check with Sakura, he had disappeared, off the face of the planet, it nearly seemed. He had checked and double-checked, nearly every inch of the city, and had yet to sense his presence.
And so nearing six in the morning, he and Sakura met up just as she was about to tuck Gaara into bed. They walked down the hallway together, just as Itachi was expressing this fact with Sakura. "You couldn't find him anywhere?" Sakura questioned in confusion; it wasn't like Itachi to lose his target, after all.
And as she stated this, Sakura opened the door to her hotel room, her chakra spiking almost immediately, an act that not only had Itachi turn his Sharingan on from his location behind her, but also immediately awoke Gaara. "Well... I think I know where he had gone, Itachi-san..."
Itachi walked up alongside her to see her hotel room, all furniture and clothing in tattered remains scattered across the room, and on the walls, smeared with either very realistic red paint or real blood, the words 'Monster' and 'You're next' painted across the walls, over and over again.
"Sakura-neesan..." Gaara's eyes were wide in alert, and Sakura could suddenly feel tiny sand grains suddenly begin to form at her feet.
Sakura's eyes widened as she immediately turned around and began walking away, Itachi following closely behind her. "Go wake Kakashi." she demanded, attempting to, and failing, might she add, to conceal her anger as she rushed Gaara away from there. He didn't need to see that, after all. Her grip on Gaara tightened securely, her eyes flashing golden dangerously.
This had become personal.
Kakashi had apparently neither sensed, nor heard a thing in the middle of the night. The kids had been fast asleep the entire time and he had heard no commotion or break in. This only meant that whoever broke in knew exactly where to go and what to do to not get caught.
And so they were left to talk among themselves as Temari and Kankuro showered, none the wiser of what had occurred in Sakura's room. Unfortunately, Sakura was not as lucky, and it had taken her an hour to put Gaara's mind at ease, and leave him to play just a few meters from their location in the hotel room. He had been too spooked, although Sakura couldn't tell if it had been for his own sake, or for Sakura's sake.
"Whoever did this... either they didn't want to spook Temari and Kankuro, or they knew exactly where to go." Sakura's hands balled into tight fists. They had known Gaara was staying in Sakura's hotel room instead of his own.
"And who had that sort of knowledge?" Kakashi asked.
Itachi and Sakura glanced at each other. Yashamaru and the Kazekage did, given that Yashamaru reported everything back to the Fourth. "Yashamaru had both means and opportunity." Itachi stated adamantly. And now it suddenly made sense as to why Itachi had not been able to track Yashamaru; he had, after all, checked everywhere but the very hotel that they were residing in. "But for what purpose?"
Sakura remained silent. "They're hurting Gaara in the only way they possibly can." She surmised. "Shukaku protects him from even himself. But no amount of chakra can protect his mental state."
Itachi remained silent. "It's clear Yashamaru is behind this. But under what grounds?"
"Well that's the million dollar question." Sakura snorted.
Suddenly they heard the door shut loudly, all three Konoha shinobi looking for the culprit -only to find none, and above all else, Gaara no longer sitting on the floor playing with his teddy bear. "Did he overhear us?"
"There's no way to tell." Kakashi sighed.
"We should go intercept him immediately." Itachi stated.
But Sakura, on the other hand, shook her head in objection. "He's in a very vulnerable situation right now. We don't need to stir his fear and cause him to do something he'll regret. I'll go search for him."
"Sakura-san, perhaps we should alert the Kazekage first. He's become unstable." Itachi noted dutifully.
"Gaara is not unstable." she objected in anger. "He's just a confused little boy who wants to be accepted." her eyes showed sorrow and wisdom far past her years. "Itachi-san... onegai. Let me do this."
Itachi didn't know what had led him to agree with her, but he relented with relatively no effort on her part to convince him. Which was weird, Kakashi couldn't help but think, because Itachi only ever followed protocol and never let personal feelings end up in the mix of his decisions. And so Sakura settled for a slow walk as she exited the hotel room.
"Why did you approve of her decision, Itachi?" he muttered with a glance his way.
"Because the Kazekage might be in on the loop."
"Ordering a hit on his own son?" Kakashi arched an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Hai." Itachi confirmed. "And I'm sure Sakura knows that too."
Itachi had to hand it to her. She was a lot smarter than he would have expected.
Sakura could have intercepted Gaara long ago, but was curious to know where he was going. So she stayed behind and instead began following the red-headed boy, interested to see what he was doing. Clearly he had a set location in mind. Interestingly enough, he had led her straight to Yashamaru. And so she listened and watched on as the scene unfolded, Yashamaru taking a step towards his nephew but finding that Gaara's sand loomed threateningly around him.
"Tell me it isn't true..." he was panicked, as tense as Sakura had ever seen him.
"What do you mean Gaara? What's going on?"
But Gaara ignored his uncle, reiterating his statement with a sudden boldness that nearly took Yashamaru aback; Gaara had never spoken to him like that, after all. "Tell me it isn't true! You didn't do that to Sakura-neesan's room, right? It couldn't have been you..." his eyes softened at this statement, his eyes pleading for Yashamaru to deny the crazy theory.
But at Gaara's words his eyes widened; they were on to him. Almost as if on queue, his eyes turned hard, his expression contorted into hurt. "I was only warning her that you'd hurt her, just how you've hurt plenty of other villagers."
Gaara's eyes widened. "Iee..." he shook his head in denial. "That wasn't me... you told me that wasn't my fault..." he gripped on to his head suddenly.
"But it was; it always has been Gaara. You're a monst-"
"That's enough."
Yashamaru's eyes snapped to Sakura's location atop a tree; he hadn't even sensed her. How long had she been there?
"Sakura-neesan..." Gaara turned to face her rigidly. "G-Gomen... Because of me... I..." his sand danced around him dangerously, an act Sakura didn't miss.
As he said this, Sakura effortlessly jumped down from the tree. "This isn't your fault Gaara..." she approached him slowly, praying that his sand would not attack. "Come here..." she held her hand out for him to take.
"Iee..." he shook his head. "I'll hurt you... don't come near me."
"Don't be silly Gaara." she flashed him a smile. "You won't hurt me because I know you, and I trust you." and so she instead approached him, close enough that she stepped on his sand, her hand just a mere foot from his face. "You know I won't hurt you Gaara..." she mumbled.
And as she spoke her words, Gaara couldn't help the tears that streamed down his face. "Sakura-neesan..." he rushed to her arms. "I'm so sorry Sakura-neesan..."
Sakura's eyes softened as she embraced his small frame. There was no reason for a boy as young as him to hurt as much as he did. It wasn't fair, and Sakura wished she had some sort of control over his living situation. "It's okay Gaara... don't worry, I'm right here..." as she said this, she ran her hands through his red locks, her hands growing green. Slowly but surely, Gaara's sand began to drop to the floor as Gaara began to calm down, until suddenly he was lulled to sleep.
"What did you do to him?" Yashamaru questioned alarmingly.
"I sedated him by interfering with the neurons in his brain. There's no reason for him to witness this; or remember it, for that matter..." as she spoke this she picked him up tenderly in her arms, yer eyes darkening as she stared at Yashamaru. "Why are you doing this?" she questioned.
"He's an abomination." Yashamaru sneered. "A monster only meant for harming everyone around him. He doesn't deserve to live, not after all the pain he's caused." He paused, reluctantly saying his next few words. "He killed my sister; his own mother. I will never forgive him for that."
"You're a liar." Sakura sneered. "Your mouth may say this but your eyes tell a different story."
Yashamaru's eyes widened "Wha-"
But she cut him off, not allowing him to speak. "You can't fool me when it comes to the heart. So I ask you this question. Whose agenda are you really following?"
Yashamaru did not speak for a moments time. "I don't need to take this from you, kunoichi. You can't touch me. I'm the Kazekage's right hand man." and so he turned around, an effort to walk away.
"You're right... I can't." Sakura confirmed, stopping him mid-step. "But the Kazekage can. But you don't seem remotely inclined into stopping me from telling him, leading me to believe that he already knows. Accordingly, my next question is why the Kazekage ordered a hit on his own son?"
The tension lay thick between the two of them, Yashamaru suddenly turning to face her once more. "Kunoichi, you're way over your head. I suggest you stop." he warned her.
"You care for Gaara. Can you not see how much this is tearing him up inside?" Sakura asked him genuinely.
"This is out of my control." he glared. "I am only following orders, please understand." he pleaded.
"Orders to what? Test Gaara's worth as a weapon? See how well he can withstand the beast's influence? But let me guess, he failed his tests, and as such is worthless to the Kazekage? Tell me how spot on I am Yashamaru." she glared.
But Yashamaru could say nothing in regards to her question; she was spot on, after all. "By testing his strength you are only furthering his inability to control Shukaku. You assassination attempt will never work, and you know it. All you will accomplish is further push Gaara into isolation and seclusion. Is that really what you think Gaara's mother would have wanted?"
Sakura could tell she struck a sensitive chord on Yashamaru's behalf, seeing instant tears appear on his face, but she couldn't help her anger. "You're not even worth the title of his uncle." she sneered as she began walking away.
"I'm the hooded figure. I'm the one after Gaara's life. Why don't you dispose of me and get the job done now?" he asked her.
"My mission was to see to his safety. Not to kill his Uncle." she stated coldly. "Furthermore, killing you will only make the Kazekage assign someone else the task of disposing of Gaara. At least under your care he'll experience some mild semblance of love in its most ironic form." Without so much as another word, Sakura left.
Sakura had been away for roughly an hour before she returned to the hotel room, an unconscious Gaara in her arms. She lay him to rest, and with Kakashi taking care of the remaining sand siblings, Itachi and Sakura were left to converse on what had just occurred. "Why did you sedate him?" Itachi asked.
"He didn't need to remember that. He's too sensitive as it is. Seeing his uncle's betrayal will break him, and I don't have the heart to see that." Sakura was truthful, her eyes falling on to that of Gaara's sleeping figure. "He's a sweet kid, and he deserves more than what this village gives him."
Itachi remained silent at this. Sakura's heart was too big; perhaps she wasn't suited to be in ANBU.
"But never mind that... What are we to do now?" Sakura questioned.
Itachi had a feeling Sakura wouldn't like the answer. "The only thing left to do."
There was a knock on the Kazekage's door. "Kazekage-sama. Three Konoha nin are hear to speak to you."
The Kazekage couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. What could they possibly want? It had only been three days into their week-long mission, after all. "Send them in." And so the three shinobi walked in and bowed respectfully. "I don't suppose you have word on the hooded figure? I'm interested to hear what you've come up with." he questioned.
"As a matter of fact, we do." Itachi confirmed. "We've discovered the identity of the shinobi. Your brother-in-law, Yashamaru." Itachi's statement dropped like a ton of bricks, the information sinking in.
"Yashamaru? There's no way. He loves Gaara-"
"It was quite clever, actually, Kazekage-sama." Sakura cut him off, "Hiring us to cover up your attempts to murder your own son, hiding behind the guise of a concerned father. And to include a security detail for your other children to make you seem worried and protective."
The tension in the room rose. "Bite your tongue kunoichi. What are you accusing me of?" he stood up menacingly, his hands balled into fists.
"I apologize for my subordinates behavior, Kazekage-sama." Itachi intercepted, causing the Kazekage to calm down (at least the captain for apologizing for her insubordination) -that is, until Itachi's next statement came out of his mouth. "Please understand that her anger is warranted, considering the mess Yashamaru made of her room and belongings. Of which we will write a report on. We expect full payment for the damage done under your decision, no matter how small." Sakura's eyes couldn't help but widen at Itachi's statement, but she didn't comment on it. "Furthermore, given the circumstances, we now access our right to decline this mission. I have already sent word to our Hokage, and he is likened to agree with our decision. Effective immediately, we are returning to Konoha." he gave a brief nod. "Given the fact that we no longer have any business to discuss, we shall now excuse ourselves, Kazekage-sama." And with one last, half-assed nod (not even a bow), all three shinobi exited the office. "We'll gather our belongings and leave quickly." And with that they left, not even giving the Kazekage the chance to respond.
And although he stated this, he didn't have the heart to look at Sakura, knowing that she was upset.
They knew Gaara's own father was trying to kill him, and what do they do? Abandon him? How did that make her any better than Gaara's uncle?
Seeing as Sakura had nothing to pack, all of her belongings destroyed, this left her time to take Gaara to the park. She sat on a swing with Gaara atop her lap as he gripped on to his teddy bear tightly. "Gaara... I'm leaving..."
Gaara's eyes widened in panic. "A-Already?" he muttered quietly.
Sakura nodded sadly. "We've been given orders to return to Konoha immediately..."
"But I don't want you to leave." It was barely an audible whisper.
Sakura gripped onto Gaara tightly. "And I wish I didn't have to either... but It's not up to me..."
Gaara gripped onto his teddy bear. "Will I see you again?"
"...I don't know..." she was truthful. "But just know that you're very important to me. Remember that, okay?"
Gaara didn't know why, but hearing the way Sakura spoke made him worry -as if she would never see him again. "Don't worry Sakura-neesan. I have oji-san..." he allowed a small smile to frame his face. "And Temari and Kankuro..."
Sakura allowed a half smile to grace her features. "That's right... you have all of them..."
And as she stated this, suddenly she saw Itachi and Kakashi approach her.
It was time to go.
Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Yashamaru accompanied them to the gates of Suna, although Yashamaru refused to look at any of them in the eye, knowing that they all knew of his treachery and dishonesty when it came to Gaara. Nevertheless, this was not their village and as such it was none of their business how Suna decided to go about treating their Jinchuuriki, no matter how much Sakura disliked it.
The sun was setting by the time they walked out of the village, and due to their mission being over, they were left at ease, Sakura too troubled to pay attention to anything other than the direction in which she was walking.
And because of this, nobody had sensed the two hooded figures that had been watching their every move as they began to walk away.
"Do you think that's her?" the taller of the two shinobi, clearly male, whispered to his companion.
"I don't exactly think it could be anyone but her." his companion spoke, her voice soft but bewildered. "They're identical, really. She's just... older..."
"Perhaps it is the workings of Matsuro-sama." the boy offered a reason.
"It could be." the female supposed. "It's not like other Kami's make themselves accessible for people not of their own. But for her to have found Matsuro-sama..."
The male couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Maybe Matsuro-sama found her. Let's go. I'm sure the others would like to hear about this."
And so with a nod from his female counterpart, the two shinobi began to flee from the Village Hidden in the Sand, moving at incredible speeds that they had obtained through constant running and relocation over the months. They took a similar route as the Konoha nin, although went further North upon reaching forested grounds. It had been dusk by the time they had reached their destination, stopping in front of a cascading waterfall. They approached it, walking directly under it until they reached a large boulder just behind the waterfall, hidden from view. The boy began doing some hand signs, as as he finished them suddenly the boulder vanished from sight, giving them access to a pathway through the mountain.
The pathway was pitch dark, but this didn't seem to bother either of them as they made their way through the maze-like expanse before them, turning as if they had memorized the pathway -which they had. Upon a few more winds and turns, they were finally met with a light at the end of a tunnel. They approached it, appearing at the entrance of a cave near another source of water, although a green expanse spread before them, a large, uninhabited piece of land atop a mountain impossible to scale. That is, an uninhabited piece of land, besides the two small cabins that were placed right smack in the middle of the clearing, right next to the pond.
They looked at each other then, and with a nod removed their cloaks, approaching one of the two cabins. They entered without knocking, the kunoichi muttering a quick "We're back." to the inhabitants of the cabin.
She hadn't seen them at first, the room too dark as her eyes accustomed to it, but no doubt about it they were there.
"Welcome back. Everything went smoothly?" it was the voice of a girl, although the kunoichi couldn't pin-point where exactly it was coming from.
"Well... more or less." the male approached the small girl, putting his hand on her head gently.
"We came across something... truly spectacular..." the kunoichi offered.
"How so... Hiroto-nii?" and as she spoke she opened her eyes, a dark shade of hot pink staring back at her brother's equally pink eyes.
Sakura had been quiet, all the way up until they had stopped for camp late at night. Sakura and Itachi started building their tents, while Kakashi went off in search for some firewood. It had been quiet between them, particularly because Itachi knew that Sakura did not agree with his decision to call off the mission. But what was he supposed to do? He couldn't let something happen to the Jinchuuriki and have Suna blame them for it -it would lead to tensions in the shinobi nations, so soon after war had ended.
They didn't need another reason to be hated, frankly.
"It wasn't your mission to save him, Sakura-san." he stated absent-mindedly. She was hard to understand, that kunoichi.
"It wasn't." Sakura agreed with him "But it is my mission to feel angry for him."
She needed to be upset? He didn't understand that at all.
Regardless, it seemed like she would elaborate for him anyway. "If someone innocent is being taken advantage of, they should have someone who cares about them. We left him to the vultures, Itachi-san. We know they want to kill him and we just left him there. What did we do other than perhaps further speed up the Kazekage's agenda?" he asked with genuine curiosity.
"They will not be able to kill him." Itachi stated.
"No, but they will kill any semblance of a normal life for him, and that's even worse. They tore away his innocent childhood, and now they're throwing his mental stability with it too. And someone should care about that; someone should be there to protect him."
"You gave him hope, Sakura-san... That was all you could do from your position."
"I abandoned him in his time of need. I willingly got close to him and then left him just as everything was sure to spiral out of control."
"...Ahh..." He stared at her and her unconvincing, self-loathing smile. "You took a strong liking to him in the short span of our mission." Itachi noted "Your heart is too big."
"You make it sound like it's a bad thing." Sakura mused.
"It is in our line of work." Itachi stated. "Because we can't save everyone."
"Would it really cost so much to try to, though?" her eyes were watery as she stared at Itachi then. "People deserve at least half the chance and opportunity that is presented to people in our position." Itachi had to be honest -something about the kunoichi's words struck a chord within him. "But never mind that, Itachi-san. I am not trying to guilt-trip you, nor imply that you made the wrong choice. As you stated, I am simply too emotional on the matter. I thank you for your words against the Kazekage though. You cared enough to say to him what you did, right?"
Itachi remained silent. "I could not picture my Otou-san doing that to Sasuke and standing by and allowing it to happen." he was honest.
Sakura couldn't help but let her eyes widen at the revelation. Was this truly how he felt or was he just faking it? "He's a really smart kid." Sakura stated.
"With the ability to exceed strengths I can only hope to achieve." Itachi agreed. "Otou-san is simply too blinded at the moment to see that."
If Sakura hadn't known any better, she would say Itachi's tone was... resentful, almost? From the very short time Sakura had spent in the Uchiha household, she could identify with the fact that Fugaku hardly even noticed he had a second son. It was all about Itachi and his progress and furthering the strengths of his clan. Simply put, there was no room in his life for Sasuke, whether intentional or not, and it seemed to Sakura that perhaps Itachi was trying his best to fill the role his father lacked.
"I'm sure Sasuke appreciates everything that you're doing for him." Sakura offered some words.
"My only wish is for it to be enough." Itachi stated, but before Sakura could make any comment on the matter, Kakashi suddenly appeared in the clearing with more firewood, thus ending their conversation short.
And although Sakura excused herself and retired to her sleeping back first, a thought struck Sakura.
Itachi... genuinely cared for Sasuke...
The rest of the travels for Sakura and her two male companions had been relatively effortlessly and quiet. Although Sakura could still not get Itachi's words out of her mind (and Itachi similarly, kept thinking about her own words), not a peep other than "good morning" had been spoken between the two of them, not that Sakura had been hoping for more conversation. For some reason, she felt that whatever Itachi had said to her the previous night had been more than he had wanted to.
Within no time at all, the three ANBU operatives found themselves back in familiar territory and made their way to the Hokage tower, to finish their mission description and formally end their mission. Sarutobi seemed pleased to see them back in one piece and after asking about how the Kazekage took their formal dismissal from their mission, promptly left them to their own devices as they each exited.
Yet, Sakura remained, telling Itachi that she would see him back at the compound, for she had business to discuss with the Hokage.
The Hokage seemed curious to know what it was she wanted, waiting patiently for Kakashi and Itachi to exit the office for Sakura to begin speaking. "You have a question, Sakura?" he assumed.
"Yeah..." she stated hesitantly. "In my timeline... I was made Kakashi's personal medic, due to his obvious dislike of hospitals and the like. I've read over every single one of his mission descriptions, ANBU included. Not once had I come across a mission to Sunagakure with Itachi, meaning that this was assigned to someone else..." The implication was clear to Sarutobi.
"It was quite easy for me to see that the Kazekage was planning something, just from the mission description, truth be told. Sunagakure has been running low on funds and competent ninja because the Wind Daimyo has been assigning most missions out of the country, namely to us. The Kazekage was the one greatly against this, which is why I grew greatly suspicious by suddenly getting a mission directly from him... and quite a sum of payment on top of it." Sarutobi began with a sigh. "Had you not arrived to this timeline, I probably would have turned it down, truth be told..."
"Why?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "And why was I the exception, furthermore?" Sakura was genuinely curious.
"I know what the situation for the Jinchuuriki is like in Sunagakure. I figured you would have the most sympathy on the matter, coming from the future. Accordingly, I assumed that if anyone could make an impact on this mission, that it'd be you. Did I assume incorrectly?"
"Yes and no." Sakura frowned. "I think that since the Kazekage has been discovered, he might just use other measures to try and eliminate Gaara, perhaps even furthering his plans. I may have done more harm than good, above all else." Sakura spoke honestly.
"I guess we won't know until time passes then, ne?" Sarutobi merely smiled at Sakura, for some reason showing much more optimism than Sakura had expected. Why did he put so much faith in her, without even knowing her? Sure, he knew her younger self, but she was but six or seven currently -hardly a good judge of character for someone significantly older now, even if she didn't quite look it. "Do not fret over it so much, Sakura. You did what you could. For now, isn't that enough?"
Sakura couldn't help but sigh. "I can only hope."
"Rest at ease. Everything will work out the way it was intended to. For now, return to the Uchiha Compound and get some rest. You've had a long week, Sakura."
And this she could not deny, so with a sigh and a quick good bye to her former Hokage, she exited the building and went straight to the Uchiha Compound.
END OF CHAPTER!
DUN, DUN, DUN!
Cliffy? Maybe? xD Anyway… I'm sorry I never got to update early! I went on vacation and had almost no internet! And I just came back a few days ago and I had to unpack everything :/
Anyway… I guess you guys probably know who the other two figures are. How many survived? You don't exactly know right now xD But, it should be revealed in the next chapter or so if I decide to split it so that half sticks 2 Sakura, and the other half sticks to them… or I stick to Sakura in the next chapter, and go with them after that one you decide xD
So here's a question! What should the next chapter be about!
Sakura + Itachi only!
The Survivors only!
Half/Half
Some might want half, half, so if I do that, I will need some oc's! I already have 1 done, I just need another; a male… if you would like the be the oc for him, message me, if no one asks for it, then I'll fill it in :)
That's it! Anyway…. I might not be able to make another early update because I'm going to be really busy, but I'll try!
Anyway! Really want to thank for all my reviewers/readers who have read this so far! I appreciate it! :D
Also… guess who might be coming in the next few chapters? :D Kurenai and Anko! Oh… and Asuma too, can't forget about Asuma :) This is where some rivalry may occur! Unless… you guys say otherwise :0 it's what you guys prefer on this one… but I won't be taking votes yet hehe xD
Anway! Review time? yes?
-Marzy-chan
Rewritten.
