Chapter 10: Bitterness
Up ahead at the main gates, Naruto was the first to arrive for their mission, leaning against the large wooden beam that supported the doors of the village. Sasuke had to question himself, wondering how much of the dobe's life had he missed—as the blonde looked out at the long road ahead of them, he wore the face of a hardened shinobi; Naruto seemed different now, no longer the hyperactive, obnoxious dork he used to be. In fact, he had also grown to be quite handsome, which made Sasuke wary when it came to Naruto's long standing affection for Sakura.
"Oi, baka. Rare for you to be early," Sasuke actually commented, causing the blonde to break out of his trance.
"The sooner we meet, the sooner we can rescue Sakura." Naruto explained quietly, and Sasuke could hear the sour anger in his words, despite his calm demeanor. He seemed to be a lot angrier than he had been last night, though knowing the blonde, he had probably only been covering up his emotions the night before in order to figure out what the hell had happened while he had been gone.
"Hn." Sasuke nodded then looked away from the blonde. A tense, awkward silence fell between the two for a minute or so, until Sasuke decided to take his place against the opposite support beam. Their arms were both crossed, looking out at the road, wordlessly quarreling with the other.
"Now you'll know how it feels, Teme." Naruto finally verbalized his feelings, his voice lowered—a mix between a growl of hurt and anger—and shaking from the pent up emotions.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke jabbed back.
"You should know damn well!" The blonde shouted, clenching his fists at his side. "Now you'll know how it felt, every time we went out to search for you in hopes of bring you back." He paused, trying collect his words, his tone returning to a low, shaking growl, "Now you understand what it's like to look down this road, wondering if you'll return back with your mission a success…" he turned to Sasuke, "or just another failure."
"I had to do what I had to do." Sasuke met his gaze calmly, though the Uchiha couldn't help but feel his gut clench. The way Naruto's saddened, angry blue eyes looked at him like that… "I told you not to follow me. It's not my fault that you did anyways."
Those eyes reminded him of that day.
"Leaving you was not an option, teme! It never was!" The blonde marched over to grab the raven haired teen by the collar, "Just like leaving Sakura to the hands of akatsuki is not an option either!" Naruto sliced the air at his side with his other hand in a declarative gesture. He glared into black orbs, and for once, saw that his words had gotten through.
Sasuke honestly had never thought of it that way. Back then, he had been the Sakura in this position, and for once, he agreed with Naruto. He couldn't imagine turning his back on the pink haired girl, however as much of a nuisance she had been in their younger days, or even if he didn't love her. If Tsuande had suggested that they let her go and forbid them from going after Sakura, he would have raised a fit, with Naruto most definitely right beside him. So that's what it was like for them when I left…
Sasuke looked down to the side as Naruto released his shirt and backed away some. He knew he needed to say it, but it wasn't something Sasuke ever thought he would say. No, Uchiha's were proud and were never guilty or wrong. Yet, here he was, Uchiha Sasuke, shame-faced and sullen. "I'm sorry." He had said it so quietly that the blonde had only heard the last syllable.
"What?" Naruto wasn't sure if he had heard him correctly. Was Sasuke apologizing?!
The raven haired teen rolled his eyes, "Don't make me say it again!"
That was all that Naruto needed to hear. He had to let out all the feelings he had been collecting over the years, or else he knew they'd hinder his mission. Naruto reached out his arms wide for a hug, but was met with a flat palm to his chest.
"No." Sasuke glared.
Two coal black eyes observed the scene before approaching with an awkward amiable smile. Presently, he was nervous about the mission. He remembered the way those red spinning eyes had pierced the core of him he never even knew existed. He was calculating how to best approach the almighty Uchiha.
"Ah, I see you two are bonding!" He smiled his usual fake, crease-eyed smile. Sasuke had come to wonder if Kakashi had been the influence behind it.
Naruto hit the kid on the back of his inky black head, "Iie! Sai! Don't say weird things like that!"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Was this Sai kid mentally retarded or something? He was about to speak when Naruto interrupted him. "Wait, sasuke, let me explain." He pulled the raven haired teen around and whispered in as hush a voice he could make. Naruto tried to explain to him in brief what they had learned about Sai's days in ROOT to make Sasuke understand the ink user a little better.
Well he was somewhat right. The boy was challenged. Naruto guided themselves back over to Sai, who looked down with a gloomy gaze. "Oi, Sai, what's wrong?"
"Well, I just read in this book that when people whisper and look at you, that means they're usually saying bad things about you, and…" the boy looked up and Sasuke seriously thought he was giving them the puppy dog pout, "it means they don't like you."
Naruto sighed, "Not at all. seriously, stop reading those books. You'll learn more from experience than words."
"Of course you'd say that. It's an excuse for why you did so poorly at the academy." Sasuke smirked. He turned to the ink user, "We've met, although, under the conditions…I think it's proper that we have a more civil introduction."
"tch, yeah, one where you don't try to kill or insult him is a good start. Or me." Naruto crossed his arms.
Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes. Obviously his oldest teammate wasn't going to let him live down his past transgressions. "If I had acted any weaker, you would have thought I didn't stand a chance against Orochimaru. I was only reassuring you." He excused himself to the blonde, then gave his hand out towards Sai, "Sasuke." He simply stated his name for the simple, brief, and minimal conversational style of his personality.
"I am Sai. It's a pleasure to meet you…" The smile on his face was one of the falsest smiles Naruto had ever seen, and at that moment, the blonde realized what was about to transpire. He immediately clamped his hand over the ink user's mouth as he was about to speak.
"Don't use nicknames with him." Naruto warned quietly, "not if you value your life."
Sasuke watched with mild amusement as his replacement looked at him with fear. Naruto sighed, wondering if they were going to make it the whole trip without Sai saying something stupid or getting into a fight with Sasuke. It was evident that Sasuke had yet to accept him as a friend yet, which made him laugh. Konohamaru had better never pull that "Otoko no Ko Doushi" jutsu—also dubbed as "fanservice-for-Sakura" jutsu—again, at least not in front of either two.
Team 7 was definitely a patchwork cell at best. While Team 8 was an incredibly close tight-knit cell from their family connections and, as of recently, the death of their sensei…Team 7 was a worn, hand knitted blanket. The threads were coming undone places in the middle, along the edges, and some threads were loose. Yet, in light of it all, it was the sentimental value which kept it from being tossed away.
Yamato arrived just minutes after Sai, thus enveloping the team in an even more awkward silence. Sasuke wasn't going to apologize to everyone…he simply couldn't. Even if he tried to get the words out of his mouth, there was no way they would come out. What he had said to Naruto was a rare, one time event, awarded simply because of their long history and friendship. That, and it was an apology long over-due.
Waiting at Konoha's main gates, the last team member to arrive was, of course, the silver haired jounin Hatake Kakashi.
"You're late, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto burst out in annoyance at the man's slow mannerisms.
"Oh. So it seems I am. My bad." Kakashi chuckled, scratching the back of his head as he tucked away the orange bouok.
"Some things never change…" Sasuke murmured to himself, though Sai caught his comment and smiled awkwardly at the broody teen. Sasuke simply glared back.
"Well, Shall we be going?" Kakashi nodded towards the horizon and they all began to walk down the main road. They would be walking for another 3 miles or so before they hit dense forest, with several directions to go.
"Where are we going, exactly?" Naruto asked
"Sasuke?" Kakashi transferred the question to the only one who knew the answer.
"Amegakure." Sasuke replied simply.
"Ame…" Naruto's voice wavered, "that's where Ero-senin…"
"It's akatsuki's base." Kakashi interrupted. "Is it really smart to waltz right into there?"
"It's where I'll find Madara. You guys stay out of there. I'll deal with Madara."
"Oh no no no." Naruto stepped in, "We already know that he wants you. You're just going to hand yourself up on a silver platter…again?"
Sasuke glared, "This time it's different. I don't want Sakura to get hurt, and if we try to attack them, she could be hurt, or worse, killed. Amegakure has an almost fail-proof way of detecting invaders. Their leader sends rain on the village and by that, they can sense the chakra of who is an intruder and who isn't. They'll recognize you guys right away. I've been there before, so my chakra won't set off alarms in the village."
"That means you're expecting to exchange yourself for Sakura then, right?" Kakashi asked.
"As of right now, yes. I'll find a way to escape once I know she's safe." Sasuke explained.
"How do we know this isn't a planned trap you set up with Madara?" Yamato finally spoke up, "You make us think that he kidnapped her so you can get out of prison and reunite with Madara."
Sasuke glared at the brown-haired earth-user. "Because I have undergone many interrogations to prove that I have no desire to follow Madara's plans. Yes, he wants to revive the clan, but…he also wants the head of a Senju because he felt entitled to Hokage, meaning…"
"Tsunade-sama" Yamato finished.
"I have no desire to stir up trouble in Konoha." Sasuke explained plainly, calmly. "I'm not working with him, and I would stake my life in order to get Sakura back." The rest of the group took his words to be true, though Yamato remained suspicious. That is, until Sasuke suggested something that would seem to strengthen their trust. "I do have someone that I can take with me. My former teammate. He can manipulate water so his chakra is undetectable--I'll have him go with me in order to increase my chances of coming back."
Naruto glared, "Oh right, the team you were with when you killed the 8-tails. Sure, lets put him right on our team. Maybe you guys can kill me too while you're at it."
Sasuke glared back, "We didn't kill him."
"What?" Naruto asked angrily, "We know it was you, the raikage told us they spotted your group with the hachibi."
"We knocked him unconscious, but we didn't kill him."
"Yet you handed him over to Akatsuki anyways…" Naruto growled, the rest of the team simply watching their interaction.
"Before I fought him, I spoke with the same fortune teller that told me Sakura was pregnant. She told me that as long as I was the one to fight him, he would survive and escape Akatsuki. I realized why when I fought him—he is connected to his bijuu and can control it." Naruto gaped slightly, watching the Uchiha walk calmly ahead of him, "And, if it had been any one else that had gone after that guy, he would have died for sure."
"So you were protecting him by fighting him…" Kakashi stepped in.
"Him..." Sasuke turned his head over his shoulder to look at Naruto, "and you."
The blonde stopped walking, causing the others to pause and look at the back that began to grow further and further away from him. Sasuke continued walking. The blonde's voice quivered, "Why?" he asked quietly, "You were going to kill me at Orchimaru's…"
"It was a test." Sasuke replied simply.
"A test?"
Sasuke kept walking, "A test to see if your new teammates were fit for the job."
Sai and Yamato's eyes widened at the response. It was true—Sai had stepped in the way to block Sasuke's sword, and Yamato had protected Sakura.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Seemingly evil deeds with honorable ulterior motives…Just like Itachi…they're definitely brothers beyond a shadow of a doubt…
Sasuke turned around to face the immobile group. "Lets go. Sakura is waiting for us." Naruto nodded then ran to catch up to him eagerly, the tails of his headband flying in the air behind him.
Pervy sage…you were wrong. Sasuke isn't of the same cloth as Orochimaru. They're different…Sasuke still cares for me. Naruto thought to himself as he walked happily alongside the former missing-nin.
"Sasuke, maybe we should visit the fortune teller—she might be able to tell us where your partner is." Kakashi offered, nearly reading Sasuke's mind. The raven haired teen had no way of knowing where his former partner had gone.
"That's what I was thinking." Sasuke nodded.
"Sheesh, teme. She seems to know a lot. It's interesting that you didn't kill her." Naruto joked.
"I don't kill innocent people." Sasuke stated plainly. "I'm not my brother."
The conversation fell silent, with the unanimous agreement that they would travel to the fortune teller to find Suigetsu. As Kakashi listened to their banter, he picked up on that word again. Brother…not "that man"…could it be… The silver haired jounin narrowed his eyes. He seems to have changed, or yet, stayed the same, but I'll have to keep an eye on him.
It was a night and a day later before patchwork Team 7 managed to arrive at the wooden door of the fortune teller. Sasuke looked around the porch they stood on and gazed absentmindedly at the wall…that same wall he had pressed up against Sakura and tasted her mouth deliciously against his. He could have sworn he smelled the same soft scent of her skin tickle his olfactory senses, heightening the episodic memory which played out like a movie in his mind.
The door opened and the same blonde-haired fortune teller peeked her head out. "kusagakure." She stated plainly, blinking a few times.
"Excuse me?" Kakashi asked.
"You're looking for Suigetsu and Karin. They're in kusagakure."
"Sugoi! That's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed, "You knew we were coming and why! You really are a fortune teller!"
She nodded, "kekki genkai." Arisa stated, pointing to her head.
"I assumed that to be the case. The best ones usually by bloodline limit." Kakashi mused.
"Arisa, do you know where in Kusa they are?" Sasuke finally spoke up,
"They're seeking refuge in the sosetsu monastery right now. They did have an elaborate camp set up in the forest, but neighboring rains from Amegakure completely washed them out and flooded everything."
Kakashi frowned, "Kusagakure, you said?"
"Hai…" she looked at the masked ninja and smiled, "Be glad that your students did not have to learn the lesson you did the hard way."
"huh?" he asked, a little shocked at her accuracy.
"Obito would be proud." She smiled warmly, and he nodded.
"Well, I think we should be on our way. Will they be there in a few days?" Kakashi asked.
"for five more days." She nodded, "You should have time to reach them."
Sasuke frowned, "Why didn't you tell me that this would happen?" he asked rather harshly.
"No point in worrying over something you can't change." Arisa shrugged. "You would have driven yourself crazy, worrying that she was going to be taken away, and perhaps would have made the situation worse." She chuckled, "I can't tell you everything I know…it's impossible to. And as a fortune teller, you have to be careful with what information you give out and what you keep secret."
"Oi, oi! Fortune-teller-sama, can I ask you a question?" Naruto spoke up, eyes sparkling like a child being handed a candy bar. "Will I become Hokage?"
Arisa laughed, "why are you asking me something you already know?"
"Yatta!" he grinned, pumping his fist into the air, "I knew it!"
"Now," she began, "Don't let it get to your head, because that can ruin your chances."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. The kid really hadn't changed as much as he seemed, though, admittedly, he was a little pleased with this. He couldn't imagine Naruto being any other way—any less loud, any less annoying, any less unpredictable.
"What about Sakura's condition—how does she fare right now?" Yamato finally spoke up.
Arisa sighed, opening the door wide, "I can see this is going to take some time. Why don't you all come in?" she invited, and the five shinobi filed in one by one through the small door frame.
They sat around her table, Sasuke sitting in the same place he did before, recognizing the amber and vanilla incense immediately. This was now his third visit to fortune teller—after meeting her the first time, she told him to pretend like he didn't know her the next time he met her, though he still had yet to figure out why.
"Madara tricked Sakura—I'm sure you all know that by now, right?" Arisa explained.
"Hai. He used a transformation jutsu to act like me and had her fall in love with me, right?" Naruto explained, his words coming out slightly boastful.
"Pretty much. The groundwork was already set, though, so it wasn't hard…" she said, looking over at Sasuke knowingly. "I warned you against this…"
Sasuke glared, "Well what's done is done. How is she now?"
"Madara actually tricked her twice. He told her that they needed her—in reality, they just wanted to capture her to lure you two out." She explained, looking at both Sasuke and Naruto this time.
"Me?" Naruto asked
"Because you possess the 9-tails that they're after. They knew by taking Sakura it would be an effective way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak."
"So because they don't need her…is she…" Sai spoke up, trailing off his words with worry.
"Don't worry. They're taking care of her. She's not being tortured or anything." Arisa assured them, "however, she is their prisoner, so she is being locked up."
"You seem more like a psychic than a fortune teller." Kakashi mused.
"I saw it in her future when I talked to her. To be quite honest, I'm only guessing that things have gone exactly the same and nothing has changed. The fact that Madara's kidnapped her gives me faith that these events are playing out exactly as I predicted."
"So it's not one hundred percent…?" Yamato asked, remaining skeptical of the fortune teller.
"I predicted Sakura's pregnancy, did I not? I knew you were coming here and I knew what you were going to ask before you even stepped onto my door. I can see into people's pasts as well as their future, and I can tell the life story of every single one of you."
"She's right. She knew about what happened to Obito in Kusagakure." Kakashi nodded to Yamato, who instantly believed the fortune teller thanks to the silver haired jounin.
"From what you're telling me, everything has happened as I've predicted it so far…I have one definite way to figure out if she's safe, but it's going to reveal everything…even personal…" she blushed, "daily needs."
"Eh, what do you mean?" Naruto spoke up, completely oblivious.
"I do a seal, place it on a mirror, and from then on, I can watch everything that's happened in the past 24 hours to the present, but it's going to show even when she's undressing, using the bathroom, et cetera." She rubbed her head sheepishly, "and seeing as you're all men, and her teammates no less…I think it would probably be best if only one of you saw this."
She stood up, "I'll go start the process in the other room. Come in when you decide on someone." The blonde fortune teller stepped into the other room, leaving the rest to delegate over who should see it.
However, before they could discuss, Sasuke immediately stood up, all eyes of the other teammates staring at him. "Sasuke, you're going to?" Naruto asked.
"Well I'm the only one who's seen her completely." He stated non-chalantly. Big mistake—Naruto jumped up from his seat at those words to deliver a right hook to the flawless face.
"What the fuck, dobe?" He spat. Rubbing his cheek, he glared at the blonde, who looked half satisfied, half pissed.
"You don't just…say it like that! Say it like it at least meant something to you!" The blonde glared at him fiercely, "Don't be so casual about it!"
Sasuke did nothing to counter this. What could he say? It hadn't meant anything, and he wasn't going to deny it, yet it wasn't ready to admit it either. Turning away from the blonde, he walked into the other room wordlessly.
"Naruto." Kakashi summoned the blonde to return to the table, in which he did so begrudgingly.
"I don't get it… doesn't he see how much he hurt her?" the orange clad ninja sighed and he plopped down onto a red pillow.
"He's already dealing with it." Kakashi shrugged, "He knows he's responsible for her leaving."
Naruto looked down at the table, "It's just…he's never acted like he really cared about her."
"That's not true." Kakashi spoke up. "When Gaara was about to crush her with his sand, Sasuke did everything he could to stop him. After the chunin exams, Sakura told me that the sight of her beaten up by the sound ninja caused the seal to flare up, and that he broke the arms of the one who beat her." Kakashi raised a finger. "You know how he is about apologizing."
"He apologized to me yesterday!" Naruto's arms flew up in the air
"And you're the first one to hear an apology from him." Kakashi explained.
"Well he should have saved it then. Shoulda said it to Sakura-chan instead." Naruto muttered bitterly.
"Um...ano…I think it's like this." Sai interrupted meekly, his eyes nervously tracing the swirling wood grain of the table, "Sasuke-kun is a very proud person. And his clan shares the same views as ROOT…that emotions are a weakness. My guess is that he has a hard time expressing how he feels…" Sai looked up at the group, "I don't understand him much, but I understand what he's going through in that respect."
"Also to consider is all that he went through as a kid." Kakashi nodded.
Naruto snapped his head over to the silver-haired jounin, "I know that! But I suffered just as much as a kid and I'm not a jerk to my friends, especially when they need me the most."
"Calm down, Naruto. We don't condone his behavior, we're simply trying to explain it. You said you didn't get why he acts like that towards Sakura."
"Sad childhood or not, he has no right treating Sakura-chan the way he does." Naruto slammed his fist on the table, causing the tea in their ceramic cups to slosh from side to side. They watched the candles in the gold-plated centerpiece flicker delicately, providing a dim light to the otherwise dark room.
ReA: Yeah! You tell 'em, Naruto!
Hell yeah! Friday was my last day of high school, and I graduate on Tuesday. So that means you can expect me to start updating this again. Shannaro! Go class of 09!