Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Rewritten: August 23rd, 2019 - December 19th, 2019.
SORRY IT'S BEEN A WHILE! D: I had some writers block writing this and I got busier, but hopefully the next update won't be too long. Happy Holidays!
Chapter 20 | Twenty | Even Heaven
At the Chunin Exam a few weeks later, Sakura takes on the appearance of a fourteen-year-old, brown-haired Genin from Konoha as she 'enters' the examination as the leader of her team. Shisui takes on the appearance of a blonde-haired Genin and Hana enters as Sakura's twin. Most of their faces are covered by fabric, loosely based on Kakashi. Sakura and Shisui both know that Sasuke is rather observational and know both of their respective habits, so covering most of their faces was the only way to avoid his detection.
Before the written portion, all of the Genin taking the exam sit just as Sakura remembers. She spots Kabuto right off the bat and Shisui does too, remembering the asshole and his chakra signature from his previous encounter. She also sees Gaara and his siblings. She has no doubt that Gaara, Kankuro and Temari had challenged Team 7 earlier. Gaara undoubtedly knows who Naruto and Sasuke are by now. She knows that he feels a sense of camaraderie towards the two boys and she's actually quite glad that they will have yet another ally inside the Forest of Death. Gaara won't let anything happen to them and he will always be a powerful ally to have anywhere.
"You see, these cards - " Sakura gets up to disrupt it, knowing that she should report Kabuto - but she stumbles as she gets up too fast and too close to her younger self. Shisui catches her and pulls her back down on the bench beside him.
An older Genin approaches Kabuto. The Genin's headband dictates that he's from Sound, "Yo, Kabuto, what're you doing here?"
Everyone turns to stare. The bad blood between Sound and Konoha is well known.
Sakura wonders if this is just a clueless Sound Genin or if he did it on purpose. She doesn't pay attention to their conversation as she tugs on Shisui's sleeve. "Get him out of here."
Shisui sends the agreed upon message to the Shigure, who is standing guard. Just as Ibiki's men close in on Kabuto, he vanishes. When they turn to question the teen from Sound, they realize he has disappeared too, but before he left, he gave Sakura a look and Sakura couldn't help the excitement that bubbles in her stomach.
Itachi's back. He's finally back. She wonders how he managed to come.
Before Sakura moves to the back of the room with Shisui's support, she looks back and notices that there are fewer applicants this time. There are fewer shinobi from Suna, especially. She figures that the Kazekage decided not to send as many people, especially since they are no longer invading Konoha so they don't need the numbers.
"Are you okay?" Hana asks, squatting in front of Sakura as the latter sits on a chair and rests her head against the wall behind her.
Sakura laughs weakly, "I'm fine."
"Should we take you to the hospital?" Hana asks. Shisui stands to the side, looking somewhat emotionless.
Sakura laughs, "No, I'm fine. Just wait a bit."
The two of them agree as they stand aside and let Sakura rest. Shisui gives up standing and sits down next to Sakura, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Sakura leans over, resting her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes. Hana notices this and immediately looks away.
"All applicants to the testing room!" The three of them hear someone announce. Sakura recognizes the voice as Ibiki's.
As the written portion begins, Shisui watches proudly as mini-Sakura answers all of the questions. As he is sitting in the back, he realizes that she was the only one that answered the questions without cheating. He makes a mental note to tell Sakura this later. She probably doesn't know, right? He sees Ino copy her answers and he is in awe of how much of a smarty pants she is. Glancing over at Sakura, he sees her smile fondly as Naruto exclaims that he will still become Hokage.
Despite all the pain she has experienced in her life, he sees that she really loves Team 7 and Konoha, and despite being sent to the past to prevent many tragedies, he can see that she was happy.
After the written portion and the introduction to the second stage, all the examinees enter the Forest of Death. Sakura hides in the bushes nearby Team 7. Shisui is the closest to the team and Hana is only a few feet away from him. Despite being tasked in preventing Sound's Invasion, Sakura makes it her mission to protect Sasuke.
It truly sucks to be Orochimaru at this point - Sakura knows who's going to attack Team 7 and she knows Orochimaru's fake identity.
When Sakura suddenly feels someone behind her, she whirls around, ready to fight the person, but the person quickly covers her mouth. Her first instinct is to scream, but she knows better than to be the damsel in distress by now.
Just as she is about to slam her elbow into his stomach, "It's me," the persons says.
Sakura recognizes the person in front of her as the one who called out Kabuto, the one supposedly from Sound. Once he knows that she won't run or attack, he takes his hand off of her mouth.
"When did you get back? What happened? How - " She tries to whisper, but her excitement gets the better of her as she decides to shut up and just scan him for injuries.
"I have more freedom with this mission than you'd think," he responds as he gazes ahead, "He's gotten…fatter." Sakura follows his line of sight and sees him looking at Shisui, "Or is that just his transformation?"
Sakura suppresses the urge to laugh, "Yeah, I guess he has."
"Make him cook for himself," Itachi continues, "He'll definitely lose weight then."
Sakura laughs. "He's gotten better at cooking."
"Sure he has."
Sakura forces a smile and doesn't respond. Something about him is off, but she pushes that notion aside as she continues looking at Team 7. Itachi continues looking at her, noticing her fake smile. It has been nearly a year and he has not written like she wanted him to. It would just be a waste of chakra to write a letter and send it with a bird through dimensions. He hasn't told her anything that has happened to him and he's not sure he'd want to tell her anyway.
He knows that nothing will happen to Sasuke while Sakura is around. She's one of the few people that he trusts with his brother, but he just wanted to make sure, so he came back. Obito took the glyphs they found to the Intelligence Division to see if they could decode it, so Itachi is here.
"Stop staring at me," she says, not taking her eyes off of Team 7.
"...I'm sorry."
"It's okay," she says, her eyes soft. "I can understand why you didn't write."
He doesn't respond because he doesn't know what to say. She is the only one that is ever able to leave him speechless.
"He's coming," she whispers. She hadn't realized how she had begun shivering until he grabs onto her hand to soothe her.
"It'll be okay," he whispers. She believes him, but just how much will they all have to go through until 'okay' comes?
"Thank you for being here, Itachi."
Sakura watches as Sasuke stays rooted in place, unable to move, while Naruto lashes out to protect his team. Sakura looks at Itachi and holds his hand tighter, holding him back from attacking Orochimaru.
"Wait," she says, both to Itachi and to the rest of her team through their earpiece. Even though nothing changes on Itachi's face, Sakura knows that he wants to question her.
"Why?" Shisui demands, "He's attacking them!"
"Although this is dangerous for the kids, you have to remember that it is also their Chunin exam. We can't just fight every fight for them. Sasuke will get stronger through this fight." Turning off her microphone for a second, she turns to Itachi, "We just have to stop him before he bites Sasuke." Itachi knows that Sakura is the one that is most disturbed by letting the kids get hurt.
Both Hana and Shisui don't question her and Itachi nods.
"Just tell me when," he says.
"No," she says, "You'll stay out of this until we need your help."
"Why?"
"Orochimaru shouldn't know that you're here," she says, "He'd go for you in a heartbeat and our cover will be blown."
Itachi looks away. "Okay."
Sakura turns on her microphone again and watches as Naruto is utterly defeated by Orochimaru. She winces as the boy is cruelly beat up. She watches as she and Sasuke are frozen with fear and Sasuke stabs himself to get them out of the genjutsu.
"Now," Sakura says curtly before Shisui jumps forward and attacks Orochimaru. Hana quickly follows. Sakura stays behind. When Itachi remembers that she cannot be around her younger-self, Itachi changes his appearance to be the same as hers and he charges in to protect his brother. Sakura doesn't stop him as she watches from afar. Itachi even changes his fighting style so that he can avoid suspicion.
"Run!" Shisui orders the kids.
Sasuke helps mini-Sakura up and rushes over to Naruto. Throwing the idiot onto his shoulder, he runs. Sakura orders Hana to hide her chakra and go after them. Hana does as told. Orochimaru tries to run too, but Itachi shoots Shisui a look and Shisui activates his Sharingan. Orochimaru's eyes widen in surprise and face contorts hideously the only way that the snake sannin's face can.
"Uchiha Shisui," Orochimaru says, licking his lips, "I didn't know you were still alive."
Sakura bites her lip as she watches. She had forgotten that Orochimaru just wants to possess the Sharingan. He'll go after Shisui. Because Shisui is ANBU, his face is rarely ever seen. Most people don't even know that he is still alive.
With Team 7 further away, Sakura recovers by the second. She watches as Orochimaru tries to bite Shisui instead. Sakura leaps forward and gets in between them, but right before Orochimaru almost bites Sakura, Orochimaru freezes again.
She sees someone with the same face as her current one, but with red eyes. He had used his Sharingan.
"Uchiha Itachi," Orochimaru says, "You're here too? I haven't heard about you recently."
Itachi doesn't respond. Shisui stares at Itachi, completely surprised.
"Wow, this genjutsu is brutal." Orochimaru must be one of the only people who can still be aware even while he is stuck in a genjutsu. His pupils shift to land on Sakura. They're unfocused but Sakura knows that he sees her. She shivers and resists the urge to shrink back. Orochimaru just saw how fast Itachi moved to protect her.
"Leave my brother alone," Itachi says, "Or I will kill you."
Orochimaru laughs and a shiver runs down Sakura's back. She probably has a phobia of Orochimaru. It wouldn't be surprising as he did terrorize her childhood. "You won't kill me," he says, "But I will leave him alone for now. There will come a day that the great Uchiha Itachi fails to protect someone he cares for." For some reason, Sakura knows he's referring to her, not Sasuke and not Shisui. It could be because he's staring at her as if trying to decipher who she is or it could be because he wouldn't kill an Uchiha, not when he wants one so badly.
And just like that, Orochimaru vanishes.
Itachi is next to her in a second. He moves her long hair out of the way and examines her neck, running his fingers over the smooth expanse of her neck, checking if Orochimaru bit her. "I'm fine," she whispers, still shaken.
"Sorry to interrupt," Shisui says, "But I can't take you seriously when you look like a girl, Itachi."
Itachi glares at him. He quickly henge's back into his initial disguise.
"It's you - " Shisui says.
"Get with the program, Shisui," Sakura says, smiling a little.
Itachi smiles a little. "It's been a while. You haven't changed at all," he says, "Well, aside, from your obvious weight."
"Well how much have you changed, really?" Shisui asks, pouting. He actually hasn't gained much weight. He has just gotten bigger due to muscles and training - besides, how can he tell anyway? He's in disguise!
Itachi doesn't answer Shisui's question and Sakura's suspicion piques. "When do you think he'll attack next?" Itachi asks.
"Now that he knows that Shisui is still alive, he'll come after either of them," Sakura says, "I had neglected to account for that, I'm sorry." She turns to Shisui, "Shisui, never hesitate to use your Sharingan on anyone from now on, okay?"
Shisui nods. "Who was that, though?"
"Orochimaru, one of the legendary sannin."
"The one that…" Shisui thinks out loud.
"Yeah, that one," says Sakura, "For the duration of this round, we will continue to watch over Sasuke and his team." She glances at Itachi. "Thanks to Itachi, I doubt Orochimaru will attack again in the Forest of Death, but I'm sure he will attack again before the end of the examination."
"Then I'll take my leave," Itachi says.
"Wait, Itachi," says Shisui.
"What is it?" Itachi asks.
Sakura watches as Shisui realizes that he didn't really have anything to say. He just wanted to say his best friend's name.
"I miss you, Itachu."
"Me too," Itachi responds.
Sakura watches as Itachi averts his eyes from Shisui to her.
Shisui notices that Itachi's feelings towards Sakura have not changed despite the distance, but he has known Itachi longer than Sakura has - he sees something that Sakura doesn't. There's something different about Itachi. He looks just as in love with Sakura as he was a year ago, but he looks…guilty.
He watches Itachi say goodbye to Sakura from a distance. They had stepped away from him to bid farewell. He doesn't hear what they're saying, but he does see Itachi kiss her on the forehead before disappearing.
"Oh come on," Shisui shouts from the side, "You're already seventeen! A kiss on the forehead? How - "
"Shut up, Shisui," Sakura mumbles as she blushes and Itachi disappears.
~:~
Halfway through the second round, Sakura had intervened. While Shisui and Hana were sleeping, Sakura had injected Sasuke and Naruto with a serum that caused fevers before Team Dosu attacked. In order to ensure that mini-Sakura realizes that she's the weakest link despite her training with Izumi.
Despite faring better this time than she did before, she is still utterly defeated. She watches as her mini-me cuts her own hair to free herself from Kin. She winced a little at how ugly she was at that moment. Her hair was so hideously cut. Thank god for Ino.
Lee intervened and was still defeated. It was hard for Sakura to watch him beat up on her behalf again. Her heart warmed when she saw Ino convince Shikamaru and Chouji to defend Team 7, but they were defeated as well.
When Sasuke woke up, his serum less potent than Naruto's, and defeated Team Dosu without the assistance from the cursed seal, Sakura proudly watched as Sasuke clearly demonstrated his capabilities. He was always stronger than he gave himself credit for.
Hana and Shisui had questioned why they didn't intervene in Team Dosu's fight.
Sakura had told them that it's because it has nothing to do with Orochimaru. If they can't beat Team Dosu, they shouldn't become Chunin. She knows she sometimes has to play devil's advocate in order to ensure that they all wind up just as strong as they were in her life. She isn't sure if she's being selfish by wanting her life to end up the same, but to her, it has to be done. Her own lack of strength has always been an issue and Sasuke and Naruto are destined to be the best.
Later on, Sakura watched as Kabuto had intervened in Team 7's last fight - the one that got them their needed scroll. Kabuto, however, had refrained from attacking Team 7 because he knew that Konoha was onto him.
"The Suna boy broke Itachi's record," Shisui had told her. Sakura looked at him like he just told her something that she never knew – and she didn't. She knew that Gaara's team broke a record when they completed the challenge in the short amount of time they did but she never knew it was Itachi's record.
She had forgotten how painful it was to watch Hinata's and Neji's fight.
She hadn't intervened in their lives because they turned out fine in the end. Neji, with the help of Naruto, eventually does come to care for Hinata as he should, and Hinata, through all of the pain that she went through during childhood, only becomes a stronger person. They turn out fine.
Sakura also watches as Lee fights Gaara, who doesn't do as he did before. He doesn't nearly kill Lee.
Sakura smiles. Lee was always strong. He never needed to go through that, and so Sakura is glad. Sakura still believes that they can be great friends even without having to nearly kill each other at some point - unlike Sasuke and Naruto.
Sakura knows that it is in their blood. She also knows that they will still eventually fight - because Sasuke, although not vengeful, will still crave power. With a brother and father like he has, Sasuke will still strive to get stronger. She has to find a way for him to gain the power he wants within Konoha.
Despite it being the second time that she watches the fight between Naruto and Kiba, Sakura still cannot hold back her laughter.
It was an epic fight.
Sakura also knows that, even without the cursed seal, Sasuke can still defeat his opponent, another examinee from Konoha. Sakura has no doubts that the person's team is still from Sound, though, as even though the opponent isn't exactly Yoroi Akadou, as it had been during her time, the skillset is still the same. Kabuto's team had just taken on different identities.
And during Temari and Tenten's fight, she realized that Temari didn't go as hard against Tenten. The blonde still won, but Tenten's defeat wasn't for show and mockery like it was before.
They're all kinder.
At least some things have been changed for the better.
~:~
And just like that, the one month training period before the finals begin.
Sakura watches as Naruto meets Jiraiya and begin his training under the sannin. She makes sure to tell the pervy sage about Nagato and them. He tells her he'll go see them as soon as he can. She watches as Sasuke trains under Kakashi and Shisui. Sakura refrains from helping out, due to her new council member status. Ultimately, she does have a say in who gets to become Chuunin.
"Is there anything in particular that you would like for me to change about your past, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura had asked before she left.
Sasuke looked down as he contemplated his response. "I wish I never got the cursed seal and never went with Orochimaru."
"Eh? Really?" she had asked.
"Don't sound so surprised." He had scowled.
"Well, I always assumed that you liked the fact that you achieved everything you wanted through your training under Orochimaru."
He looked up at the sky as he said, "While I'm unsure if I could have attained this power through staying in Konoha, as long as there's someone who knows what I have to do in order to achieve this power if I so crave it, I can probably still get it."
Sakura had laughed nervously. "You figured it out." She wasn't exactly banned from telling anyone what her mission was, but she decided to not tell anyone anyways, just because it is a mission.
"I knew Tsunade was up to something."
"It's Tsunade-sama," Sakura corrected, "Would you please learn to respect her? She is our Hokage."
"I do respect her."
Sakura smiled. "Well you sure don't show it to anyone."
He looked away, "Any other questions?"
"Are you sure you would be fine without the cursed seal?"
"I'd prefer if I never went to the other side, to be honest," he had said, "I sacrificed things I never should have and I realized that it wasn't worth it in the end." She couldn't read the look on his face. It looked a little like regret, a little like an apology, a little like self-punishment.
Sakura was surprised by his response, but she understood.
"Do me a favor, Sakura."
"Hm?"
"Save my brother." Sasuke hadn't expected her to save his family. She figured that through the years, he had figured out that there was no redemption for those already consumed by hatred. Having gone through the curse himself, he must have understood more than he had hoped and more than he ever wanted. It must have caused him pain to realize that his family could not have been saved.
But she had done it – and Sasuke isn't the same as the Sasuke she once knew, but she is giving him what he wanted – and then some.
Sakura figures that, with Shisui helping out, Sasuke will end up more powerful than he was before. At some point, Sakura knows that she should find him a katana worthy of him. It'd be best if she were able to find the Sword of Kusanagi for him, but that may not be feasible. Maybe if she were to ask -
Should she play that card this early on?
She would like for his skills to remain as unchanged as possible, but without the cursed seal, his skills are bound to change significantly already.
During this month, Sakura clandestinely conducts a bunch of research to try to find information that would help Sasuke's training in the future. She also asks around to try to find information regarding people that could possibly be able to train Sasuke in the future. Also trying to figure out a way for Sasuke to obtain the mangekyou, Sakura wonders how Shisui awakened his.
Tracking Shisui down has been hard lately - even though they live together. Sakura doesn't want Sasuke to hear this conversation just yet, so she has to find time alone with him. Today, Sakura asked Kakashi to take Sasuke out for training alone, and as a result, Sakura has Shisui alone.
"So, tell me why you wanted to get me alone," Shisui says, "I know you did it on purpose."
Sakura laughs. "You're smarter than you used to be."
"Hey!"
"Oh calm down, it's a compliment," she jokes, "But actually, I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"How did you get the mangekyou?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"To help Sasuke."
He sighs, completely defeated, "It's pretty simple, actually."
"Well?"
He looks down. "Fugaku-ji-san had told me to keep it a secret until I became jounin."
"Eh? It awakened before you were a jounin?"
"It awakened when I was six."
"SIX? When did you get your Sharingan then?"
"When I was four and I saw my grandma slaughtered during the war."
"And…when you were six…" Sakura knows where this is going.
"My Genin teammates was killed." He shrugs a little. It has been many years. She can tell that Shisui has already been jaded against the memories. Her heart aches for him.
Sakura resists the urge to pull the boy into a hug. "Thank you for telling me." He probably doesn't want her pity. Plus, she had seen Hana's face the other day. She knows that there's a line with Shisui that she shouldn't cross. She's not even sure when they started dating, but the look on Hana's face was no doubt because of heartbreak.
"I hope I helped."
"You did."
She smiles and thanks him again. "Listen, you should just take the day off," she says, "Go find your girlfriend or something."
He laughs. "She's not my girlfriend." He doesn't ask how she knows. Hana's been pretty obvious.
"Yeah, right. Do you think I'm stupid?"
He looks away as Sakura heads out to spend time with the Sand Siblings. She has been trying to get them to hang out with the Konoha 12 more, and because of the fact that Suna isn't planning on attacking Konoha and the kids haven't done anything wrong, all of them get along pretty well.
Sakura always isn't able to stay long because of the fact that mini-Sakura is there, but she finds her own time to hang out with the Sand Siblings, Sasuke, Naruto, and them.
During this month, due to the changes with Suna, Hayate Gekko is not murdered by Baki, Dosu does not try to sneak up on and kill Gaara, so Gaara does not kill him in return, and Gaara does not attempt to kill Lee either. Instead, Gaara has found a friend in both Naruto and Lee.
And soon enough, it is time for the final round.
Sakura has no doubt that, today, she'll see Itachi again. She hasn't seen Itachi since that day in the Forest and when she was alone, she would wonder when he left again. She would have liked it if he told her that he was leaving again, but she figures maybe he didn't have the time.
She's gone through a whole life without knowing him, yet in the year of not seeing him, she feels sick. She wants to see him so, so badly, but there's nothing she can do.
The first match, Naruto against Neji, goes exactly as Sakura remembered. She hadn't arrived early enough to completely get rid of Naruto's childhood sadness and so Neji winds up a changed person as a result of this fight.
The second match occurs on time this time. Sasuke isn't late and Gaara doesn't expect the match to be disrupted. Sasuke has improved way more than he did during Sakura's actual Chunin exam and he is quicker than he was before. Gaara couldn't keep up this time, but due to Gaara's increased strength, the match lasts for the longest time and ends up a tie in the end. Sakura couldn't imagine either of them winning anyways.
The third match, the match between Shino and Kankuro, is different as well. Kankuro doesn't forfeit the match and the match ends up a tie as well. Again, Sakura couldn't imagine either of them actually winning against the other.
The fourth match, Temari and Shikamaru's, ends up the same way it did before. Sakura knows that Shikamaru is still going to be promoted. She isn't sure yet if anyone else will be promoted.
The fifth match - Dosu's match - is Sakura's biggest question. After he had defeated Chouji, and Sakura's match had ended up a tie, so no one knew who his opponent would be. Even Sakura doesn't know what the result would be - and she doesn't get to find out in the end.
A smoke bomb sets off right as Dosu's name is announced and, with everyone put to sleep, the Invasion of Konoha begins, though Sound's forces are much smaller than they were before.
As Sakura expected, Orochimaru decides to use this moment to try and kidnap Sasuke. Due to the changes in history, Sakura had figured that, since Sound doesn't have Gaara to fight one front and Sunagakure's forces to fight alongside Sound's forces on the other front, the only choice would be to kidnap Sasuke while everything is going on.
Chasing after Sasuke's kidnappers, Sakura realizes that the kidnappers are only half of Sound Four. It is only when she is halfway out of Konoha that she realizes where the other half are.
Shisui is in danger and she tries to convince herself that he is strong and can defend himself. She just hopes someone else also noticed and can help him if needed.