Jiraiya placed an open scroll down in front of the strange black flames that Itachi had used to escape his jutsu, "Sealing Jutsu!" the white haired man yelled clasping his hands together
He couldn't help but slightly smirk at Naruto's amazed look as he closed up his scroll, placing away the scroll for later research he glanced back at the other three kids that was with him. Sasuke seemed furious, shocked and contemplative mixed together, Shikamaru seemed tired and bored as usual, and Sakura...well, Sakura was obviously the most damaged one after the brief fight they had gone through. Physically she was fine, but Jiraiya could tell by the empty and hollow look her eyes had that mentally and emotionally she was anything but
'What did Itachi do to her?' he wondered seeing Naruto run up to her
His eyes widened briefly seeing the alarmed look Sakura had, "Naruto wait! She's-"
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Sakura yelled looking like a deer caught in headlights before she crouched down to the floor curling up into herself while trembling, "P-please, d-don't touch me right now Naruto..." she said softly, "Please..."
"...having difficulties adjusting back in reality, the Genjutsu that she was placed in is so dangerous that the victims have difficulty knowing what's real or not." Jiraiya finished his earlier sentence, "She may even be traumatized" he added looking at Sakura's current form, who was he kidding? Whatever Itachi did to her, it's obvious that she's probably scarred for life, it was a pitiful sight seeing such a strong-willed girl reduced to a shivering and scared wreck that looked like a cornered animal
'But if she's anything like the younger Tsunade, she'll get back on her feet'
Naruto frowned, "What sort of Genjutsu was that?" he asked
"It's one of the most powerful Genjutsu in existence gained by his Sharingan, allowing him to trap someone in whatever illusions he wants to and torture them to the fullest degree. When in those illusions you'll think it's real even when it's not or experience horrifying things over and over. And even one second could be several days in the illusion" Sasuke explained in a clipped tone
"So to Sakura it's been days since she's seen us, and in that period of time she was being tortured in kami knows which way" Jiraiya summed up for Naruto
At the information Naruto's face paled, he couldn't imagine how it must have felt going through something like that, "That's messed up..." he muttered looking at a still shivering Sakura, 'If only I was stronger...' he thought feeling frustrated at himself
Shikamaru, who had been silent the whole time, was having similar thoughts. 'I should have known that she'd take an attack for Sasuke. It's obvious that she still cares about Sasuke. But since when could she use a jutsu without any hand seals?'
"I...I'm okay now" the quiet voice of Sakura intoned
Jiraiya watched on silently as Sakura shakily stood up, her face devoid of any emotions as she struggled to get used to being able to move her limbs the way she wanted them to move. The Toad Sage himself was conflicted as to what he should do with the girl, on one hand he should probably send the girl back to the village for treatment, but on the other hand the village obviously didn't have anyone skilled enough to help the traumatized girl. The only one who would be able to help would be the one they're looking for. So ultimately the decision was up to Sakura
"Will you be able to continue with the mission?" Jiraiya questioned ignoring the alarmed looks he received from Shikamaru and Naruto who was obviously against the idea of Sakura pressing on
"I'll manage" Sakura stated, "I've been assigned this mission and for my pride as a ninja from the Leaf Village I will not back down"
She sounds determined enough, Jiraya noted to himself giving a nod to the girl before turning to their next problem, commonly known as Sasuke Uchiha "What are you even doing here kid?" he coolly asked
Sasuke seemed visibly surprised before he opened his mouth to say: "I came here-"
"Let me rephrase my question, who gave you permission to come here?"
"..." Sasuke clearly hadn't been in his right mind
"I see, no one gave you permission" Jiraiya stated in a matter of fact tone, "Leaving the village for your personal goals without permission could be considered as insubordination and in the worse case scenario ending up with you being classified as a missing-nin, but seeing your status in the village you'll probably get off with a slap on the wrist only"
Sasuke glared at Jiraiya's implication of him getting special treatment due to being an Uchiha, "You k-"
For the second time in the last five minutes the Uchiha heir was cut off, this time by a kunai flying between him and Jiraiya sticking on the wall with a sound thud followed by a yell of "Dynamic Entry!" as a green figure's feet flew towards a surprised Jiraiya
"Gai?" the Toad sage recognized before the feet connected with his cheek sending him flying
The attacker could only let out a dumb "Huh?" realizing that he had just attacked his own ally
"Gai-san? What are you doing here?" a mildly surprised Sakura asked, "More importantly why did you attack Jiraiya-san?"
"Ah, you see I was in a rush when I used my forehead protector as a mirror and couldn't get a clear enough image." Gai explained before tuning to Jiraiya "To that end I'm very sorry for attacking you" he sheepishly apologized "To make it up I shall run one hundred laps from the Leaf Village to here and back!" he declared doing his nice guy pose
"It was just an accident, no need to punish yourself" Jiraiya awkwardly said waving the man off
"How youthful!" Gai exclaimed
"Anyway, you can escort Sasuke back to the Village" Jiraiya said
"Of course!"
"Wait" Sasuke stated gaining everyone's attention as he looked directly at Sakura, "Before I leave I want to talk to you...privately"
Sasuke was the Uchiha heir, a proud wielder of the Uchiha's famed bloodline limit. He was supposed to be strong. He was supposed to be able to avenge his clan, he was supposed to be able to beat Itachi. He was supposed to be stronger than his teammates.
Yet why did he feel so weak compared to them? Why did he feel like like he was the weakest?
He clenched his fists in frustration, both at himself and Itachi.
Himself because he was supposed to be able to make sure Itachi didn't lay a single finger on Sakura nor Naruto nor anyone else he may care about. The bruises formed by Itachi's fingers on Sakura's neck made it glaringly obvious that he couldn't protect someone precious to him again. Deep down inside he knew that he felt hopeless and so very afraid when Shikamaru had him stuck in the Shadow Possession jutsu and he had to watch as Itachi placed Sakura under the Tsukiyomi, he was scared of the possibility that Itachi would kill Sakura and take away someone from him again. Honestly speaking he felt like he was eight year old again and had discovered that the one person he trusted and cared about the most had killed everyone important to him
Itachi, because why did that scum have to take away the people he cared about? Why did Itachi have to always ruin his happiness? Why couldn't Itachi just choke on his crimes and die? Why did Itachi always have to make him feel so worthless?!
"Sasuke?" Sakura's voice snapped him out of his thoughts making him look up at her concerned look
"Why did you take my place?" Sasuke asked grounding his teeth
Was she going to say that it was because she knew he wouldn't be able to withstand taking it? Was she going to imply that it was because he's weak?
"Because we're teammates."
Sasuke's eyes widened at Sakura's simple statement
"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." he remembered Kakashi's words
That was it, the reason why he was so weak. His emotions were getting in the way. The camaraderie he made with with team seven is a "weakness" that was holding him back, preventing him from becoming stronger.
He gave a humorless chuckle at the epiphany, why hadn't he noticed it before?
"Is that so?" he muttered looking up at Sakura with a hate filled look, "You and Kakashi, you're all the same as everyone else always preaching about how teamwork is everything. Always sacrificing yourselves for your allies. Would you consider dying for me teamwork too?"
"If dying will ensure you staying alive then yes"
Sasuke snorted clearly not believing her
"I consider you, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei my second family. Team seven as a whole is kinda like a family, don't you think? Naruto's our whiny and attention seeking little brother, Kakashi-sensei's our lazy and eccentric older brother, I'm like the baby of the family that everyone else dots on, and you're the rebellious brother that's just a little lost" Sakura had a soft smile, her dull eyes shining with life again
"What are you trying to say?" Sasuke asked narrowing his eyes at her
"I'm saying that if those who abandon their friends are worse than scum, then what are those that abandon their own family?"
Sasuke's eyes widened at the question, his epiphany shattering in pieces at the implications of Sakura's words. He knew that in this situation he was supposed to look underneath the underneath of what Sakura was saying.
If you continue down your path of revenge you'll become just like the person you hate the most.
He refused to even acknowledge that there was a hidden meaning in Sakura's words
"Sasuke, I care about you. Naruto cares about you. Kakashi-sensei cares about you. We don't want you to become a monster, we worry about you"
"Pervert Sage, is Sakura going to be okay?" Naruto worriedly asked once Sasuke and Sakura had made there way to a more private location (a.k.a outside in an alley)
"I don't know" Jiraiya honestly admitted, "She may not ever recover despite acting like nothing's wrong or she may really recover but we think she hasn't. Summing it up she's physically fine, but mentally? Who knows?"
"What about Sasuke?" Naruto asked
"Physically he's terribly beaten up, mentally and emotionally he's...unstable at the moment."
Naruto clenched his fists in anger, his mind flashing with the scenes of Sasuke getting beat up and Sakura being pinned to the wall, "What the heck? What did Sasuke and Sakura ever do to deserve that?" he angrily asked, 'Why couldn't I save them?'
"Okay Pervert Sage, it's time for a new game plan, starting right now! I admit, I let those two scare me a little, but that's over. No more running. After all it's me they're after. right? Well okay then, it's time I give them what they want!" Naruto declared
"Hmph, nice speech kid, but I'm afraid you wouldn't stand a chance against them. You're not in the same league. What would have happened if I hadn't shown up just now, huh? It took all I had to get them away from you."
"Is that right? So what are you suggesting? That we just do nothing?! Sit here waiting for them to hit us again, what kind of strategy is that?!" Naruto yelled
"Just be quiet!" Jiraiya sternly said "You haven't earned the right"
Naruto snapped his mouth close
"Gai, sorry that you had to see this."
"Oh no, it's alright. A little argument here and there is youthful" Gai assured, "What I'd like to know is if Sakura was hit by the same Genjutsu as Kakashi was, how could she be acting so normal?"
"What? Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked
Gai stayed silent for a moment, his thoughts wandering to Lee, "There's nothing worse than seeing one's student badly beaten up, it's like taking a piece on oneself. What we need right now is a supreme medic, a master of healing. And we need one right now"
"You're right. And the woman you're talking about is the one we've come to find" Jiraiya informed startling Gai
"The woman...?" Gai's eyes widened in realization, "You don't mean?"
Jiraiya smirked "Yes, that's exactly who I mean. Another one of the Sannin, the queen of slugs and elixirs, the gambling fool and mistress of the healing arts...Lady Tsunade!"
"Then she can heal Lee..." Gai quietly said, tears welling up in his eyes "Will you really bring Lady Tsunade back?" he asked
"That's the plan" Jiraiya informed
"Hey," Naruto suddenly said interrupting the soon to be emotional moment, "Where's Shikamaru?"
"I was checking out" a lazy drawl answered making the three look at the end of the hall to see a bored Shikamaru, "You weren't planning to stay here longer, were you?" he asked raising an eyebrow
It was only Jiraiya and Gai that noticed that his lazy font was only an act, well at least this time
"No way! We have to find this Tsunade woman as soon as we can!" Naruto declared
'And I'll get stronger and stronger. I won't let anyone him hurt my team ever again' Naruto thought to himsef
"Then let's go, Sasuke and Sakura's probably finished with their talk by now anyways"
The four didn't waste a second to make their way downstairs to the first floor and then the exit. With Jiraiya's meager sensing skills they found the duo they were looking for in an alley.
Sakura and Sasuke were in a stare-off, looking intently at one another. Sakura with a determined look, and Sasuke with a stubborn look. It was as if they were in a battle of wills.
"Break it up you two" Jiraiya said interrupting them
Both clicked their tongue in annoyance letting out a "Hn" much to everyone's mild amusement
"Well, time to go back to the Village Sasuke" Gai said making team seven look at each other, tension filling the air "Say your goodbyes and we can go"
Ignoring the man Sasuke huffed and started walking away
But is this how I really wanted to say goodbye to them after what had just happened? A small voice in the back of his head asked him
He paused and grounded his teeth together, it wasn't like him to say any goodbyes or see you again, it was more like him to just walk away without saying anything, but this time he wanted to..."When you two get back to the Village we'll have a spar, and then we'll finally see which one of us is stronger" he said aloud. No, that wasn't what he wanted to say, he realized with a small frown
"And we still have to see which one of us can unmask Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura reminded loudly making his frown disappear
"You better believe it! Until then I'll get stronger and then kick your ass when I get back, Teme!" Naruto declared
Sasuke's lips curved into a small, barely noticeable smile, "As if, Dobe. Just make sure Sakura doesn't overwork herself, and Sakura? Make sure the idiot doesn't pass out in a forest again"
"Yeah!" the two grinned waving at him
"I'm saying that if those who abandon their friends are worse than scum, then what are those that abandon their own family?" Sakura's words replayed in his head causing him to frown
'I'll get stronger. I'll make sure Itachi won't even be able to look at you nor Naruto ever again. This time Itachi won't ruin my...' he trailed his thoughts off too scared at the implications
!~Chapter End~!
Author's Note :
I love rain
Rain = no wifi
No wifi = no updates
No updates = Me on my bed reading romance books
Pretty legit explanation for not updating, eh?
Anyways! This chapter didn't quite come out the way I had imagined it, I thought it would be more intense...but it turned into a Team Seven moment? I honestly don't know
My Questions :
1. Do you like the rain?
2. If you could choose between NaruHina and SasuSaku or NaruSaku and SasuHina, which one would it be and why?
My answers :
1. I love the rain. I like getting caught in it while walking outside, I love drinking tea or hot chocolate on a rainy day with my pj's on the whole day, I love reading romance books while it's raining. I just love the rain in general
2. If I was the me in the past I would say the former, but right now? I'm thinking the latter. I just think NaruSaku and SasuHina is more compatible than NaruHina and SasuSaku. I don't know why. But I respect all ships~!