Sakura gently pulled Kakashi down to the sitting mats across from her parents. The whole time, though, her father gave the two a scrutinizing look. Her mother was stiffly seated, and neither of them had said a word. This is definitely not one of Kakashi's best ideas.
But Kakashi, of course, was remaining calm and collected. "Haruno Hatsuya and Haruno Kagura, it is an honor to make your acquaintance." He hid a smile under his mask as Sakura gave him a quick look of surprise.
Since when did he speak so formally? Sakura looked over at the doorway behind her parents; Hana was peeking through the frame, and winked at Sakura before closing the door. Ah, that would explain it.
Her father was the first to speak. "Hatake Kakashi… we know your name, of course. You are quite the ninja, from the stories that we have heard." It could have been seen as a compliment, if it were not for the critical tone that Hatsuya had.
"I hope you don't believe all of the stories." He forced out a chuckle.
Sakura groaned. Of all times to try to be humorous… Her parents certainly did not find his comment amusing. The opposite happened; the furrowed eyebrows of her father seemed to increase in severity. "Well, now that pleasantries have been taken care of, let's eat."
Because she had been listening to the conversation, Hana and another young woman immediately entered the room with serving trays. After placing each one in front of them, Hana bowed slightly and, after smiling at Sakura, pointed a finger at Kakashi as a reminder of how to behave himself.
Sakura frowned slightly. How is he going to eat? He couldn't gulp everything down while turning his back to them; that would only make things worse. Would he… No, that wouldn't work either. As much as she knew he wouldn't like it… she wanted him to remove the mask. Partly because she wanted to see his face again. The only time she saw it was at the dimly lit festival; and her memory was sketchy at best, considering what had happened afterwards.
But she should have known that he would have a plan. As he said "Itadakimasu," she felt the genjutsu start to take hold. He wouldn't! But she saw the small glint of merriment in his eye. I've got to stop this before-
"Kai!" The genjutsu was instantly dispelled.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Sakura, who looked at him with surprise on her face. "Not me," she muttered. He glanced to the other side of the table, trying to hide the shocked look in his eye at the hand formation that Kagura held.
"Kakashi-san, you assume too much." Kagura lowered her hands, smiling in a fake manner toward him. Hatsuya poorly tried to hide a smile. He looked at Sakura, who stared at her parents as if they were complete strangers.
"What's going on here?" Sakura looked at her parents. Kakashi then looked from Sakura to her parents.
" There are a couple of things that we never told you, Sakura. But now, I suppose there's no longer a reason to hide it. We were once two of Konoha's strongest ninja in the Shinobi wars."
What?!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shizune woke to find she was lying on the ground, underneath a canopy of trees. Her head ached, and the last thing she remembered was being tortured from the Sharingan I'm… alive? She tried to sit up, but found that she was still bound.
"I wouldn't move if I were you."
Her head whipped around to see Uchiha Sasuke, leaning against a tree and watching her with wary eyes. Shizune's face twisted into a searing glare, and she tried to control herself. "What are you doing, traitor?"
In an instant, he was standing above her. He pulled out his sword, and she turned her head, wishing that she could have been more help to her village before dying. She could hear the sound of the sword cutting through the air, and shut her eyes, hoping that the pain wouldn't last long.
"Is that any way to talk to the one who has saved your life?"
Shizune opened her eyes, and gasped. He… cut my bonds? She tried to stand, and stumbled slightly, her legs still sore. Before healing herself, though, she turned to him. "Why did you do that?"
Sasuke just looked at her. "That's irrelevant. The real question is, what are you going to do now that you're free?" His eyes began to swirl slightly. "I freed you, Katsu-san. You can finally leave this place."
Her eyebrows creased in confusion. "Katsu? Was I…" Something was wrong. She couldn't remember… He was doing something to her mind! "Stop, Uchiha!" She started to set up mental barriers, trying to remember who she was. Konoha… Tsunade-sama… Sakura-chan… but the images were fading too quickly. After a couple of minutes, everything about Konoha, about her friends, was forgotten. Her eyes glinted with happiness over false memories. She turned to Sasuke and bowed slightly. "Thank you, master, for freeing me." A moment later, she was gone, off to the Land of Snow to find her 'family'.
Sasuke sighed. He shouldn't have bothered to use his Sharingan on her- she wasn't important. It was too late to consider it now, though. At least she'll be better off this way. His eyes lowered as he considered this. "I waste my abilities to save some woman I barely know, and yet I am called to kill those that were once…" No. He shouldn't think about them. He was supposed to kill them. There was only… an hour before the attack began. Maybe less. Now was not the time to second-guess. He was an Uchiha, after all- strong and proud, never wavering.
He repeated this to himself as he walked back towards the cave, even though the images of those who were once so close to him burned in the back of his mind.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hatsuya pointed a finger at Kakashi. "This is exactly why we didn't want you to become a ninja, Sakura. They think that they can pull anything off on civilians, they're sneaky, they're-"
Sakura looked at her mother again. None of this makes sense! "How is this possible? There are no records of any members of the family, or our ancestors, as being ninja in the Hokage's office. And I've never sensed a strong signature from either of you."
Kagura gave her daughter a small, slightly sad smile. "We made the council elders eliminate traces of the Haruno clan from the archives, because we wanted to protect you. Given all of the sacrifices our clan made, they were forced to agree. Our service is also why we were able to move here later on, and own whatever we wanted." She looked at them both. "Didn't you ever wonder why there was no trace of the Haruno clan in the history of Konoha? Not even as civilians?"
But Sakura wouldn't be deterred. "What sacrifices? Why would you keep this hidden from me?" She had switched from being confused to livid. "You don't think that I have a right to know about my own family?"
"Not when your life is at stake!" Hatsuya slammed a fist on the table. Kagura placed a hand on his shoulder, and he sighed. After rubbing his temples, he nodded, as if ready to explain. "Our clan was famous for its strength, and for our intelligence and ability to memorize important information. In the Shinobi wars, we were always at the front of the battle, in order to ensure that our teammates wouldn't get in the way when we leveled the field with our punches, which was usually the first move in any battle. But because we were always at the front, many of our clan members died, until your mother and I were some of the only ones left."
Seeing that this was taxing for him to explain, Kagura continued. "Your other family members left the village, and we haven't heard from them since. You were born around the same time as the demon holder, and we knew that if you became a ninja, you would share the fate of our family."
Sakura frowned. "Our family is known for its strength? Then why is it that, growing up, I was always so weak?"
It was Kakashi's turn to speak; and his tone was cold, and critical. "You suppressed her abilities, didn't you?" Anger was an emotion that Kakashi showed only on the battlefield. But he couldn't hide the hint of rage in his eye. All of this time… He remembered when she was still a Genin. How hard it was for her to keep up with Naruto and Sasuke. And how she even tried to be taught by him; all of that pain, sense of failure and rejection… it could have been prevented.
Sakura, on the other hand, was not bashful about showing her emotions. "You suppressed my abilities?!" Her fists were clenched, and Kakashi could see that she was shaking slightly. "Do you have any idea of the struggle I went through, the mocking that I had from my teammates? You had no right-"
"We had every right! You are our daughter, and we wanted to protect you!" They heard a door creak open; the other servants were wondering what the noise was. Hatsuya tried to compose himself, holding the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb.
Kagura took over in the conversation. "Sakura, we only did it because we love you, and didn't want you to make the mistakes our clan made. The life of a ninja is dangerous- we know from experience. Can't you understand?"
Hana listened through the door. Oh, dear… this isn't working out well! She couldn't let this dinner be ruined- and she certainly didn't want to lose her young charge again. Hana walked in, making a lot more noise than necessary, a fake smile on her face. "Alright, who wants dessert?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tsunade lifted her head from her desk upon hearing the door open. "It's about time you got here." Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Ten Ten, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Sai, and Chouji walked in the room.
"We're ready to receive our orders, Tsunade-sama."
She gesticulated towards a number of folders. "You're the last groups I'm sending out today. You each have your specific assignments. Neji will lead Ten Ten, Kiba, Shino, and Lee. Shikamaru, your team will consist of Ino, Sai, and Chouji. The missions are B rank, so I expect you to be back by tomorrow. You are to leave at once. Understood?"
A chorus of "Hai!" rang out, and the ninja vanished as they headed out of the village.
Tsunade checked her rosters. This is a good week for Konoha- so many missions are being carried out! The money will certainly be well used. She rubbed her head, slightly tired from all of the filing this had caused. "Shizune!" She waited for a couple of minutes. After a few more minutes, Tsunade got up and began searching throughout the hospital. No one had seen her since the previous day.
Where did she go?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sasuke returned to the cave, finding that everyone was already there. Madara had assumed his usual role as Tobi, and was teasing Kisame again. Zetsu gave him a wicked smile, a knowing look in his eye. Pein looked up from his plans, Konan at his side.
"Sasuke-san, where are your teammates?"
He shrugged. "They aren't of any use to me- I left them at the Akatsuki headquarters. They were told to prevent any ninja from Konoha from returning to protect the village."
Pein nodded. "Very good plan." He rolled up the scroll in his hand, looking at the rest of the members. "The time to strike is soon upon us. But before we attack… we need a few more fighters." After concentrating for a moment, his other Paths began to appear. He then looked at each member expectantly.
Kisame produced a high number of water clones; Konan performed a jutsu to utilize her paper creations as soldiers, Sasuke made shadow clones, and Tobi muttered the jutsu to bring ninja back to life. All in all, it had cost them little chakra. But now they had well over fifty strong.
Pein's Deva Path smiled. "This will do nicely." He turned towards the village, and raised his hand as a signal. Each group of clones/fighters, lead by their creator, spread out through the trees until they effectively surrounded Konoha.
Madara smiled under his mask.
It is time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone looked at Hana, surprise showing in each person's eyes. Hatsuya quickly waved her away, saying, "That won't be necessary. As you can see, we have yet to eat our meal." Hana bowed slightly as she left, concern in her eyes at the obvious tension in the room.
Hana's interruption, though, reminded Kakashi of why they had originally come here. At the rate things are going… this plan will never work. He looked at Sakura, who was still upset. Gripping her hand comfortingly, he turned to her parents. "You denied your daughter her freedom, and you suppressed her abilities in order to try to deter her from her dream of becoming a ninja. However…"
Sakura looked at him curiously, her fury at her parents subsiding slightly. What is he doing? His tone had become softer, and she could see his eye and how it reflected… gratitude? She found herself tensing up, but for a different, unknown reason.
"If you hadn't… I might not have had a chance to love her like I do." Looking directly at Hatsuya, he continued. "I told Sakura that we had come here to tell you about our relationship. But I have another reason for coming here. Haruno Hatsuya, I ask for your permission-"
"The village is under attack!"
Every head turned to the young maid who ran through the door. "There's smoke coming from the village- civilians are being killed and running from the village, and ninja are fighting as we speak!"
Sakura turned from the girl to Kakashi, disbelief and irritation on her face at the interruption. Her heart was pounding, and she shook her head for her thoughts. There's no way he would ask that. She jumped slightly as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We'll have to come back and finish that conversation. Duty calls." He gently pulled Sakura to her feet. He started walking out the door, and saw that she hadn't moved. "Are you coming, Sakura?"
She quickly looked at her parents. "Come with us. Help fight- you are still ninja of Konoha, and you have a duty to the people!"
Her mother shook her head. "We have no such duty. And neither do you!" Her voice became soft. "Stay here, Sakura, and forget about Konoha. We can start a new life, a happier one, and-"
"How dare you!" Sakura's fists were clenched. "How dare you! To think that I would abandon my friends, my loved ones, my village, just because my own life would be in danger?" She walked over to Kakashi, not bothering to look behind her. "I'd rather have the Haruno clan remembered for their sacrifice and honor then for this cowardice and shame."
After slamming the front door behind her, Sakura stood at the edge of the lawn, still shaking. Kakashi was about to ask how she was when she pulled him close, wrapping her arms around him and burying her head in his chest. "Kakashi…" A few delicate tears trailed down her cheek.
He wrapped his own arms around her, gently putting his hand on her head. Words weren't necessary. She was pouring her heart into him, and he was willingly accepting her, having already been accepted by that same heart.
After a minute or so, she looked up at him, a small smile on her face. "You know, I had hoped to see your face again. I don't really remember what it looks like, after all that happened."
He let out a soft chuckle. "All in good time. But first…" He loosened his hold on her, and she did the same to him. They both turned to their home, where smoke was slowly rising from the Hokage's tower.
"We have a village to save."