The time it took to return to the village, although not addressed in the anime, was a longer one than leaving it. It took a while to gather themselves up enough strength to make it back to the village, and the sight they were met with was not one they prepared for.
The anime never addressed how the team got back, nor their reactions to the destruction. Upon arriving back, Naruto and Sakura were speechless, shocked by the ruins of there home, while Sasuke felt a sinking pit in his stomach, one that screamed and twisted, telling him how he could have prevented this, how he should have done something-
He couldn't listen to the voice. He couldn't if he wanted his sanity to remain intact.
"The village it's..." Sakura choked, and looked around before she looked back at Sasuke and Naruto. "I have to find my parents!" She took off, and Sasuke called out for her to wait, she couldn't go off alone. The two boys, although both beaten and wounded, stumbled after her.
"Sakura wait! It's not safe!" Naruto yelled, and Sasuke caught him as he tumbled forward. "Naruto!" They heard a voice call out, and turned, before Sasuke sighed in relief at the sight of Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei! Take Naruto, I'm going to find Sakura." Sasuke started to run, when Kakashi called for him to stop. "Sasuke... you're bleeding. You need a medic... and you need to hear this." Sasuke grimaced, feeling his gut twist and his head spin. Kakashi steadied Naruto, who looked confused at his sensei's words.
"Kaka-sensei... what happened? Is Orochimaru gone... or..." Naruto whispered the question hoarsely, and Kakashi sighed, looking desperately torn. "Well, we won, sorta. The Third Hokage managed to defeat Orochimaru who fled the village." The blond perked up upon hearing this news. "That's great... isn't it?" Naruto backtracked his celebration at Kakashi's pained expression. Sasuke looked down, knowing exactly why as the guilt griped him once again.
"Naruto... the Hokage didn't make it." Kakashi spoke, and Naruto's face fell, and he became quiet. Sasuke was about to say something, when he heard Sakura shout. The three of them headed towards the sounds of distress there teammate was making, and the Uchiha's eyes widened upon seeing the crumbled remains of Sakura's house. Sasuke's breath caught his throat at the sight.
Sakura was desperately whipping tears away from her face, sobs wracking her body, as her palms glowed green. "No. N-no. K-kaa-san it's okay. I c-can heal y-you." She spoke to the person laying on the ground, and then she noticed the others. "Sasuke! Please help my father, he's still stuck underneath the rumble. Can you get him out?" She asked, and went back to her mother, who lay motionless.
Sasuke looked towards the pile of rumble, and didn't sense anything, no signs of life from the crumbled building. "Sakura..." Kakashi said, and Sakura snapped at him. "Please hurry, they both need to go to the hospital..." The three shinobi stood there, watching the sight as Sakura continued to heal her mother... who had a gaping whole in her gut, with glassy, empty eyes and a pile of blood and other internal fluids around her.
"Sakura..." Sasuke spoke this time, as he approached her, and she looked at him, and he's face was twisted in sorrow and guilt. "Sakura... she's gone... stop." Sakura's face contorted at those words, and she shook her head. "No. No she's not.. they're fine... i-it'll be... fine..." Tears streamed down her face as her body shook. "I-it'll be f-fine.. i-i.. Kaa-chan...T-tou-san.." She whispered, and Sasuke knelt grabbing both her wrists. "Let go, come on... Sakura..." Sasuke whispered, and Sakura let out a sob, as her wails began to fill the air, Sasuke pulled her into a hug.
"N-no Th-this wasn't s-supposed to ha-happen. Th-they w-were g-going to t-take me t-to o-out to d-dinner... the-they were super p-proud, I-I can't feel them anymore... Sasuke what do I do... i-it's hurts.. I-I..." Sakura's words slurred more into incoherent sobs, leaning completely on her teammate for support. Kakashi and Naruto watched, there own faces twisted in grief, as Sakura's grief mixed with there own overwhelmed.
Sasuke felt immeasurable guilt for his actions, or lack thereof.
I see it now... old man... I've become what I despise...someone who just let's tragedy happen to avoid responsibility... when in reality, I've become even worse... I knew... and I did nothing...
Raindrops fell from the sky as everything took on a more sullen tone. Sasuke glanced towards Naruto, who's eyes were downcast. The sniffles of Konohamaru were heard, as everything seemed damp with tears. Sasuke personally couldn't find it himself to cry, mostly because he knew exactly what this man had caused, how much pain the lack of his actions caused... but even still...
Even in death you can't help but hurt the people I care about, old man... even though it's my fault.
Sasuke and Naruto's road to recovery wasn't long, and Naruto soon started to act more like himself. He was good at hiding the sadness. Although it helped he had Jiraiya to take him away from the village. Sasuke almost went with them, but he feared he would somehow mess that up for them.
Sakura hadn't been at the Hokage's funeral. She was at her own parents funeral, after all.
He hadn't seem much of Sakura, she only showed up for training and had a much more... sullen, attitude. He tried visiting her once, only to discover her crying, curled up on her parents bed. He should have gone in and comforted her, but he didn't. After all, it was his fault her parents were dead. He could have prevented all of this, but he chose the selfish route...
It wasn't until he was talking to Naruto did he suddenly remember what was meant to happen to Kakashi, and just like everything else, he was took weak and too late to prevent it.
"Itachi is back and he's after Naruto?" A random Shinobi alerted everyone to the fact that Sasuke was right there, and Sasuke's eyes darkened slightly. He turned on his heel and ran.
I screwed up everything else, I'm not screwing this up! Itachi you are NOT taking my friend!
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to move, to get to Naruto in time, and he prayed that he was in time when he raced up the staircase to face down his brother, as he turned the corner, he felt anger towards everything lash out, as the curse mark on his neck fed into that anger.
Hey, what are you doing! A voice yelled inside his head, and he blinked. What am I doing? Sasuke, calm down. You need to thing things through. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and get your shit together.
Sasuke shook his head, regaining his barrings. The curse mark was irritating him, that was for sure. It might be effecting his judgement. He needed to stay calm. Sasuke brushed his hair out of his face, and planted a smirk on it as he rounded the corner.
Itachi and Kisame stood, as Naruto stared back at them.
"What's up big pro, did you miss me?" Sasuke called out, and it felt strange calling Itachi that, but he brushed it aside. Itachi looked at him with the most neutral face Sasuke ever saw, and the boy decided to steal that expression to mask his own emotions later- before he grinned even more.
"Sasuke... I'm not here for yo-"
"I'm not here for you, foolish little brother, am I right? Gosh you're predictable, it's almost like you don't even mean it, like you're quoting a script." Sasuke said, interrupting Itachi, taking a few steps forward. "I see right through that act. I know everything, and you know what, fuck you for trying to lie like that you dick."
"I thought you killed all your clansmen, Itachi, it looks like you missed one and he's quite disrespectful." Kisame walked forward, and Sasuke gestured for Naruto to move. The boy did, jumping over to Sasuke.
"Itachi, I need to tell you something. I want you to know something, and I want to make it very clear." Sasuke said, making his intentions clear. Itachi looked at him blankly, but Sasuke could see something in his eyes flicker just briefly. "I love you."
He finished saying, and for a moment, he saw Itachi falter, so he continued. "I will never hate you. You can tear me down. You can kill the clan. You can put me in the Tsukiyomi, you can join an organization that wants to kill my friend, but I won't hate you... because I can't. I can't hate you." Sasuke spoke, and for a moment, he was sure he'd broken through to Itachi.
Then Jiraiya broke through the wall with a woman on his back, and the stone wall returned to Itachi's eyes, as if snapping him out of something. It was gone as quick as it came, and Sasuke cursed, and pulled Naruto behind him.
Jiraiya seemed confused for a moment, but seemed to brush off things as he introduced himself, not getting much of a reaction. "Tough crowd..." He muttered, and Itachi glanced at Sasuke, who decided to mirror his brother's mask.
"Come on Kisame, we can't fight a Sannin." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his brothers words. Bull-fucking-shit. You wooped Orochimaru's ass just fine at age 13. Cut off his arm and sent him running. Which is why I'm his target now... I wonder if he knows...
"Itachi!" Sasuke called, yanking down his collar, and Itachi glanced at him for a moment, before his eyes zeroed in on what Sasuke was showing him. Sasuke let his collar go, fixing it. Itachi's gaze left him, most likely internally freaking out.
"He's marked me for his next body Itachi!" Sasuke called out, and Itachi didn't react. "He wants these eyes... although, I know I wasn't his first choice. He tried to get to you, to, didn't he?" Itachi said nothing, and Jiraiya watched the exchange, with an expression that was wondering how Sasuke knew that much.
The Akatsuki left the building, which left Sasuke to be questioned by Jiraiya. "Kid, what do you know about Orochimaru?" He asked, and Sasuke sighed. "I know what he told me. He wants my eyes, and all things considered, the only reason he probably didn't just rip them out of my head was because he wants me. He also kinda implied he wanted a vessel, so given all of those things, it's obvious I'm his next pick. Which, like, fuck him cause no." Sasuke said, despite knowing full well it was likely he was going to leave the village.
Only... now I'm not as sure. Can I really leave after everything I did... especially to Sakura? She... she lost her parents because I did nothing... how can I be sure I'll be able to even defeat Orochimaru? Sasuke's worried expression increased as all the possibilities dawned on him.
Jiraiya opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly, a man in a green jumpsuit crashed into him.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Sasuke blinked as Naruto jumped back, and Jiraiya yelled in annoyance. "WATCH IT! THERE AREN'T ANY ENEMIES HERE YOU IDIOT!" Naruto laughed at the pervy sage's expression as Sasuke began to reconsider every move he's made, now unsure.
I... I need to re-think it all. I need a plan, a better plan. I need to get a better idea of the future... Sasuke thought, while Gai's voice was heard frantically apologizing. This snapped Sasuke out of his head, he glanced up and sighed.
I need to go with Orochimaru, so that I can continue with my original plan. I can still save people. I just need to make some adjustments for errors. That's all. He reassured himself.
Everything will be fine.
I'll try to update more, as I recently found my way back to inspiration for this fic. This chapter was a little darker than previous ones, and I think I'll edit this whole fic a bit because my writing style has change slightly, and I'm noticing more and more errors that need fixing. I'll try to update weekly. I promise, things will lighten up a bit soon enough. I just figured Sasuke ought to have some actual consequences for his actions, changing the story, butterfly effects like with Hidan showing up.
Letting a village get destroyed in your plan is one thing, but then he remembers he knows people in that village. Plus, I'm trying to fix Sakura and give a her a little more... well, depth. Her parents death would, realistically, let her understand Naruto and Sasuke a little more, and also give her more of a reason to become a medical Shinobi other than "I wanna save Sasuke-kun!" I wanted it for her to be more... well, self driven. She couldn't save her parents or do much, so she goes to Tsunade to get stronger so she can save people like them, so she can protect her friends. The Cannon Sakura died with her parents, now we've got AU Sakura, and I'm gonna write the female characters to be a little more fleshed out since Kishi clearly was the best at writing them. (He even admitted it).
Reviews are love!