Chapter Five: The Bell Test
The Godaime continued to talk, and Sakura continued to listen, but her head hung low. Exhaustion burrowed itself into her body so deeply, she wasn't sure she'd ever be fully awake again. And Kami, if her mind wasn't just as drained— as depleted. Had she been awake for two days? Three? Sakura dropped her face into her palms, too tired to comprehend half of what was happening in the room around her.
Naruto, on the other hand, had boundless reserves to pull from. He fought and hollered, all of his fire and fury just short of the fox. No longer needing to appear indifferent, Kakashi for the first time spoke with real intent and rationale. On the opposite side of the Hokage's office, branded with another seal on his chakra but otherwise unrestrained and free, Sasuke stood silently. The jury was out.
The conviction wasn't the problem, though. Sasuke's request, a request being granted by the Hokage, was the problem.
"Look, I'm not happy about it either," Tsunade grumbled. "That was my only chance to take those two down and keep my own head in the process."
Naruto scoffed. "Your head, or your hat?"
Sakura didn't look up. She figured well enough that it was the traditional kage hat and its esteemed role that Naruto was referring to.
Tsunade growled. "Seriously, Naruto. Show a little respect."
"I'm trying to, but you're not making it easy, baa-chan."
Kakashi winced.
"What's done is done," Tsunade announced, harsh and even. "You got a problem? Take it up with that punk. It's his decision. Seems to me the least I can do is listen to him."
That punk had yet to say a single word. Sasuke remained at a distance, physical and otherwise. Sakura had spent the first ten minutes trying and failing to study him for clues that might help her understand. Just like she spent the next ten minutes trying and failing to convince her mentor that there was still action they needed to take. She didn't have it in her to fail again. Adrenaline could only surge through her system, then crash it so many times.
Naruto's window of opportunity was closing, and he sensed it. Hopelessness had a way of hanging about the air, heavy and pungent.
"This can't be it." Naruto slammed his fist down onto the desk before him. "What about justice?"
Kakashi sighed, tired in a way neither of them were old enough to understand. Tsunade pressed her lips together, unable to chastise Naruto again. Not when he was right.
Sometimes, it didn't matter what was right. It didn't always matter enough.
"He wants it kept hidden, Naruto. Just like Itachi did. It's off the books. Since it's off the books, there's no legal course of action we can take against the complicit Elders. There's no illegal course of action to take that won't cause suspicion and destabilize the village."
Tsunade spoke in a clipped, detached manner, like she was reading off basic protocols. She was unwilling to meet Naruto's eye, though; she looked above his shoulder and stared at the wall behind him.
"So, what then? They just get away with it?" Naruto seethed, fox-eyed and blistering.
"Sasuke is the primary victim in this situation, not me, not you. This is what he has chosen," Tsunade said, a note of finality in her tone. "To honor his brother and protect the integrity of this village, the truth of the Uchiha Clan Massacre will remain a secret."
Sakura no longer felt stubborn protests swelling inside her chest.
There wouldn't be justice for the Uchiha. The reality of it didn't slam into her so much as it seeped into her bones. It was warm enough in the Hokage's office, but Sakura felt cold.
Kakashi stuck both hands into his front pockets, discontent. Second in line to the most powerful person in the village, but powerless in all the ways that counted.
Naruto went on another long-winded tirade, a fourth or fifth rendition of the same points Sakura originally made. He didn't know how to stop. He didn't know how to give up.
Tsunade remained inhumanly still and surprisingly patient, her vision fixated on the wall.
"Look at me," Naruto snarled.
Sakura pulled her face out of her hands, startled by his tone.
The Hokage's shoulders tightened, but she finally dipped her chin down to face Naruto. Sakura expected to see a cold mask of forced indifference. It wasn't what she found.
Grief reverberated off Tsunade, her own disillusionment and pain unflinchingly honest. In shining hazel eyes was everything that couldn't be said.
Naruto's shoulders slumped. Sakura hated the moment she saw him accept defeat. The way the bright blue of his eyes dimmed. How he took a subconscious step back, retreating into the room and into himself. The first fight she'd ever seen him lose. For one flash of a wicked second, she hated him for it.
"This isn't fair," Naruto said, impossibly quiet. "This- this isn't right."
That didn't matter, though. Right and Wrong, Good and Evil; they were for fairy-tales and children's games. Sakura saw that clearly now.
Kakashi warned her that knowing the truth would be an impossible burden, but he was wrong. It wasn't weighing on her shoulders, it was emptying her out. A shovel to her insides, tossing out her faith in the Leaf, throwing away everything she believed in as a shinobi.
Silence settled into the room, at ease despite everyone else's discomfort. Sakura risked a glance at Sasuke, but he remained motionless, staring out the window. Eventually, Tsunade shook her head, returning her vision to the wall. "It's done. We've done all that we can. It's time to figure out how to move on."
Sakura frowned. Move on? Move on?!
Before anyone could respond, two sharp knocks on the Hokage's office doors sounded off like alarms. Sakura recognized Kotetsu's chakra signature and turned. She knew for a fact that Tsunade told him and Izumo there should be no interruptions under any circumstances.
Tsunade didn't call out for them to enter, but the wooden doors swung open regardless.
"Forgive me, Tsunade-sama," Kotetsu apologized. "But ther—"
Mika, one of the hospital nurses, burst into the room. "Apologies, Hokage-sama," she exclaimed, panting. Her gaze immediately locked onto Sakura. "Sakura-sensei! You said to find you if there was an emergency. There's a—"
"Hold on," Tsunade said, and raised her hand to halt the nurse.
Mika gasped, surprised at the interruption, but then quickly bowed and apologized again. Sakura, who at some point must have stood up, turned to her mentor. She was just as startled, but less apologetic.
"If you'll excuse me, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura began. "I shou—"
"No." Tsunade interrupted again.
Sakura blinked, mouth half-open in protest. She couldn't find the words fast enough.
Tsunade sighed heavily, as if resigning herself to another unwieldy pile of paperwork. Instead, she pushed her hands into a steeple and studied her apprentice.
"Explain to me how the Hokage, supposedly the most powerful and influential person in this village, gave personal instructions to the emergency department for you to take five-days mandatory leave, yet here's ones of your nurses, flying into my office without an invitation- Hell, without my even letting her in- to bring you back to work on the what, third day?"
Mika flushed scarlet red, but Sakura was too shocked to be ashamed. It was doubtful Tsunade insisted she take leave because of Sasuke's trial. It had to be because—
"Yeah, I know about that," Tsunade added, reading Sakura's thoughts clearly printed on her face.
"I- I didn't..." Sakura didn't realize Tsunade knew, let alone put attention to the matter.
Not wanting to talk about it, let alone think about it, Sakura shook her head. She started for the door.
"I'm fine, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura promised.
"I know." Tsunade unlaced her hands. "That's the problem. You shouldn't be."
Sakura paused, suspended in time and in step. She wasn't prepared for this. Nothing could have prepared her for this.
Softer, Tsunade added, "Look, Sakura. What happened with that little girl was a tragedy. It was a miracle she made it to your table. Shizune doesn't know how you kept her alive for as long as you did."
Sakura felt herself unraveling, thread by thread. She yanked at a knot to try and hold on. "That's- that's my job."
In flagrant disrespect, she turned to Mika, grasping for anything to keep a hold of besides the memories of red, the ticks on a clock, and the final stop in a heart. "What is it? What's happened?"
Mika hesitated. After a quick glance at a disapproving but acquiescing Tsunade, she answered. "It's a boy. We think he's been poisoned. His internal organs are starting to fail. We need yo—" Mika stopped herself, glanced at the stern-faced Hokage, and swallowed. "We need a poisons expert. Shizune-sensei is doing another surgery and no one else can identify it."
Without identification of the poison, there would be no way to administer an antidote. Alleviating symptoms and providing life support would only last for so long. The boy would die.
Sakura looked at her mentor, sure that she had enough leverage now to leave. "Unless you go, I'm the only one from here to Rain with the expertise."
Tsunade lifted a brow, unimpressed.
Frustrated, Sakura exhaled, but she continued to bargain. "I'll take the rest of my leave after I see this patient, I promise. It's just one more shift."
Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "That's my point, Sakura. There will always be another patient. There will always be 'just one more shift.'"
Sakura wanted to scream. This wasn't the time or the place for a lesson.
"Yes, but right now there's this one and I'm the only one who can save him."
Tsunade stared at her for several long seconds, then relaxed back into her chair. "It's your call."
Sakura sighed, relieved. She was already walking, already putting her hair up, already transitioning into the mode of a med-nin. She rushed out of the room without another glance and Mika raced to keep up.
"Organic?" Sakura asked. "Heavy metal?"
"We think heavy metal."
"Initial symptoms?"
"We're not sure. The older brother brought him in, said he found him that way- unconscious."
Adrenaline poured through her system, washing away all thoughts of the Elders, the Uchiha Clan Massacre, and of Sasuke.
"I'll meet you there," Sakura said, and sprinted faster than a civilian nurse could follow.
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.
Sasuke turned from the window's view of a starless night and watched Sakura leave. She was gone, and in her wake, Naruto stood in wide-eyed wonder. Kakashi had one brow lifted, a subtle but telling sign of concern. The Godaime was stoic, but she kept watching the door her apprentice went through, lost in thoughts he wasn't privy to.
Apparently, he was the only one of them unsurprised by her behavior. Naruto was unruly and obnoxious, the force of strong winds that could blow in any direction, but Sakura had always been the most stubborn. Adamant and inflexible once she put her mind to task, as sturdy as the earth. What other twelve year old could repel a Yamanaka's mind-body switch jutsu? He'd bet half the Uchiha inheritance that there was more than a yin and yang release to her chakra nature.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Hatake," Tsunade began, dragging her gaze away from the door. "These three were on the only genin team you would accept from the Academy?"
Sasuke almost forgot about that. Back then, he hadn't really thought much about Kakashi's past except to determine whether he was a competent teacher or not. Then, if he'd been deserving of the Sharingan.
Sasuke watched for the Copy-nin's response.
"Hmm," Kakashi confirmed, falsely cheery. "That's right, Tsunade-sama. They were the first team assigned to me that passed the Bell Test."
The Bell Test. Sasuke remembered that, too. Another memory that had been forced to the recesses of his mind. It sprung forward and played out clearly. A perfect Konoha day, cloudless and breezy. His burning need to win at any cost. His decision to feed the idiot, Naruto, and the strange absence of guilt while doing it.
That was why Kakashi took on their team? Not because he was the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan, Sakura's superior chakra control and off-the-chart written exam scores, or because Naruto was the host of the Nine Tails?
"Yeah, well, good thing you're on track for kage because you're fired from teaching," Tsunade grumbled. "Each one of them gives me a headache worse than the last."
She shot a fierce look at Sasuke and Naruto for emphasis, then rooted around in her desk drawer for what he assumed was aspirin. Instead, she pulled out a bottle of sake.
Naruto only huffed.
"Ah yes, well," Kakashi laughed weakly, one arm bent behind his head as he scratched his neck. "I never thought teaching was my strong suit."
Hatake Kakashi would be the Sixth Hokage. Sasuke discretely watched his old sensei, trying to imagine him in the formal red-and-white wear, the oversized hat above his masked face. It was a ridiculous image. Given the circumstances of the day, though, Sasuke found himself reluctantly relieved.
"Alright then," Tsunade started. She poured herself a small cup of sake, swallowed it, then poured another. "Now, you."
Sasuke met her steely gaze. She downed her second glass, but didn't pour a third.
"You heard the jury. One month of house-arrest in the residence of Hatake Kakashi while under his supervision. You stay put, you stay quiet. If you behave, you'll be allowed to move to the Uchiha Compound for the next eleven months of your probation."
Unlike all of Naruto's speeches, she knew better than to call it his home. Sasuke lifted his chin, listening.
"You will remain in the Hatake household and on the Uchiha Compound premises under all circumstances, unless you are personally escorted out by Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Sai or Tenzo. No exceptions."
Sai must be the replacement.
"You hear me? No exceptions," Tsunade said again.
He could read between the lines. No ANBU, no other esteemed shinobi. No one that the Elders might send to try and kill him.
Sasuke nodded.
"Alright. In the beginning, keep your outings brief. A few minutes in the market. A half hour at the café. Then, sometime next week, eat dinner at a restaurant. In fact, make sure the lot of you dine out weekly. We need the people of this village to get acclimated to seeing you. To realize you're not a threat."
Sasuke read between those lines, too: not for them to trust him or accept him, but to find him harmless. That would do more to convince the Elders to leave him alone than any other plan of action would.
The Hokage might have been drinking while she spoke, but she was competent. Sasuke despised Orochimaru and never had real reason to consider Jiraiya one way or the other, but this Sannin at least seemed to be worth her salt.
He nodded again.
"Ibiki, Kurenai and Shikamaru will monitor your probation status and meet with you monthly to ensure progress. You will not have access to your chakra for the entire twelve months, no matter how good your behavior. You will not be seen training. You will not be seen as aggressive. You hear?"
Sasuke felt a stone settle into his stomach. Twelve months without his chakra? That was difficult to accept. More than difficult- it was impossible.
Naruto leaned forward and put himself in front of Sasuke's view. Both brows raised, blue eyes bright and eager, he waited. Sasuke withheld a sigh.
"Yes," he answered.
The Hokage didn't address his delay. "Being seen with your old team and being present for community events will be your best chance in repairing your image, so do it," she said. Then, she gestured to Naruto. "That means no fighting in public."
Naruto laughed, then bumped into Sasuke's side and elbowed him. "You hear that? You're going to have to listen to me now."
Sasuke side-eyed him. "That's not what she said, dobe."
"Hmph."
Tsunade poured another glass, but corked the bottle and put it back in her desk drawer.
"That's that, kid. You serve twelve months on probation and finish with a clean record- a spotless fucking record- and you'll be a free citizen of Konoha."
That wasn't what he cared about most.
"And my chakra?" Sasuke asked, turning his concern into coldness. "My Sharingan?"
He was probably more wary of the Rinnegan than they were, but his Sharingan was more apart of him than any limb. If they were going to strip him of his heritage no matter how well he behaved, then this was all a waste of time.
"Spotless," Tsunade repeated. "A spotless fucking record and I'll be there at sunrise to remove the seals myself."
Sasuke contemplated. It wasn't as if he had any real say in the matter, yet the Hokage looked at him like she was waiting for his approval. She held her glass of sake, seemingly unhurried. But her hazel eyes were piercing.
"Aa," Sasuke said eventually. "I'll do it."
He didn't realize how rim-rod straight Kakashi was standing until he saw the other man relax. Naruto whooped and hollered. Tsunade downed her third and final glass.
"I'll send a physical therapist to start with you tomorrow afternoon," Tsunade said in conclusion.
It was not the end of the conversation for him. "Who?"
The Hokage, rather inelegantly, snorted. "It won't be Sakura, if that's what you're asking."
It was exactly what he was asking, though he'd be hard-pressed to admit it.
"She's done everything for you she can," Tsunade said, nodding toward his healed arm. "Her specialty is in critical care, not physical therapy and rehabilitation."
Sasuke ground his teeth, already displeased at the thought of some stranger being close enough to examine his arm, let alone touch him.
"Critical care?" Naruto repeated, trying the words out in that order. "What's that?"
Tsunade huffed. "Field medicine. Intensive care. Emergency department management. Trauma surgery."
Naruto just looked on, no less informed. It was all medical jargon to him.
"Life-threatening injuries and illness," Tsunade finished wryly. "It means her expertise is with people who are nearly dead or dying."
"Right." Naruto gulped loudly. "Er, so uh, what happened with the little girl? Why is Sakura on mandatory leave?"
Or not on mandatory leave, Sasuke added internally. He watched when Tsunade and Kakashi exchanged a look, brief and distressed, but then the Hokage moved out from her desk.
"None of your business, kid." Before she had to hear Naruto's willful protests, she added, "And not my story to share."
That shut him up. Tsunade went to the window Sasuke had been standing at earlier. It was still dark, but the horizon line was turning blue in the east.
"Well, Hatake. Better take him and get out of here before the sun rises and you have an audience."
Naruto immediately went to Kakashi's side. "I'll go with you guys. For now at least."
Sasuke was in less of a rush. He sure as hell didn't miss that prison cell, but he had no idea what to expect at Kakashi's house. For weeks, he was convinced he'd be poisoned by ANBU. If not that, then executed by Konoha. Instead, he was free to walk out and go— barring some major limitations.
Naruto approached him. The dobe was grinning wide, blue eyes full of hope and happiness, the sort Sasuke knew he'd never claim as his own. Quick to adapt, he already changed directions: from anger and sorrow, to excitement and mirth.
"Come on, bastard," Naruto smiled. "You ready?"
No. He wasn't.
It was wind that fanned the flames of a dying fire, and it was Naruto's friendly arm swung over his shoulders that pushed him forward. Ready or not, Sasuke went with them.
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.
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The basement of the Konoha Hospital was cool on a good day; in the early morning hours during a cold front, it was frigid. Sakura wrapped both arms around herself, aware that the starchy white linen of her lab-coat was woefully inadequate. She sat on the cold metal stool without complaining.
Once her teeth started to chatter, Kasumi spoke up. "You don't have to wait here, you know. I can find you as soon as I'm done."
Kasumi had three shades of blonde hair tied back into a bun with a chewed-up pencil stuck through it. Sakura looked at the pencil, traditional yellow with a half-used eraser, and answered.
"I'm alright with waiting here, if that's okay with you."
"Sure." Kasumi didn't look up from her work. "Not used to having much company down here, as you can imagine. At least, not the living sort."
Sakura pointedly did not look at the table slabs that hosted covered bodies in the Coroner's Office.
"Yeah, I can imagine."
She tried not to swivel impatiently. In the upstairs floors Sakura worked on, effort was made to add warmth and color. Artwork on all the walls, serene landscapes and sunny days; curtains and rugs in blush, taupe and beige; fresh flowers posted in each hall. Here, the pretense was dropped. The Autopsy Room was entirely silver and black, all surgical steel and polished metal.
Sakura heard the snap of Kasumi taking off her latex gloves. She didn't look up until after she heard the rustling of a medical cloth being draped over the boy's body.
"Well, it's exactly what you said," Kasumi said. The pathologist reached for her clipboard on a nearby table, took the pencil out from her bun, and scribbled notes as she spoke. "Aluminum phosphide poisoning. After circulatory collapse, the patient died from shock, myocarditis, and multiple organ failure."
Sakura bit her lip, thoughtful. "Alright. Inhaled? Ingested?"
Kasumi nodded at the second option. "Swallowed in the form of a tablet. Based on gastro-intestinal activity, I'd say around midnight, maybe half after."
Kasumi leaned against a steel desk and continued to write.
Sakura swiveled in her stool, discontent. "I didn't see any signs of mouth or throat trauma, did you? That means he wasn't forced to swallow it. It was given to him by someone he trusted."
The elder brother had brought him in, Sakura remembered. Could it have been a sibling prank gone wrong? A sibling rivalry turned lethal? She shivered at the thought.
Kasumi stopped writing. She slowly looked up from her clip board.
"They- they didn't tell you?" Kasumi asked.
Sakura's attention was pulled downward as the clip board began to waver in Kasumi's hands.
"Is that- is that why you're down here waiting for my results?" Kasumi's questions elevated to a higher pitch. "Does your staff- Kami, don't they know you're down here?"
"Well, no," Sakura answered. "I told them I was going home."
Kasumi tossed her clip board onto the nearby table. "Fuck."
"What is it?" Sakura felt her throat closing up on her, but she made sure her voice didn't waver. "What didn't they tell me?"
Kasumi rubbed her hands together to keep them from shaking. She looked up to Sakura, her brown eyes filled with an unidentifiable emotion. Still, Sakura recognized it. The deliberate set of placating features, the forcefully relaxed mouth, the confirmation of eye-contact before she spoke. It was the look of a doctor trained to deliver bad news.
"It isn't a homicide. Sakura, they- they found a note."
"A note? What do you mean, they found a note?"
"The patient," Kusami said. "The... The boy. He left a note."
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Red-red-red. Sakura couldn't stand the sight of it. Back in her apartment, it was the only color she noticed, the only thing she could see. It was woven into the ivory linen curtains in a pattern of red poppy flowers, it was hung on her walls in the sunset shades of red abstract artwork, it was clinging to her body with every thread of her signature red qipao-styled top.
Shizune once told her she needed to find a safe place. Sakura couldn't, not when there was so much red.
Red, bubbling out of the little boy's mouth after all his organs failed.
Red, dripping off her hands and falling onto the floor while the merciless clock chimed on— tick-tock.
Red, in the mocking glint of Koharu's ruby brooch while she fumbled through her testimony.
The red had always been there.
Red, seeped into the wooden floorboards the night she found her father's body.
Red, in the swirling clouds of the Akatsuki's billowing cloaks.
Red, in the disheveled hair of the puppet master she couldn't kill.
Red, pulsing from the bodies crushed by debris in Konoha's demolished streets.
Red, in the flow of lava beneath Kaguya and her god-tiered threats to end everything and everyone she loved.
Red, in the flash of Sasuke's Sharingan as he punched through her chest with another genjutsu— another rejection.
Sakura reached for the curtains and yanked them off. She crumbled them into a ball and shoved them under the couch. She took the artwork down one-by-one and left them on the ground, turned in the opposite direction. She ripped off her top and shoved it straight into the trash.
She knew she was behaving erratically, she knew she badly needed to sleep. But anytime she closed her eyes, the world turned red again. If she took a sleeping aid, it might still turn red- and then she wouldn't be able to pull herself out of it. Sakura dug through her medical pack and took a soldier pill instead.
That was what Tsunade failed to understand. With nowhere to go, no one to go to, and everything she had inside of her shoveled out and tossed aside, the hospital was all she had. Tsunade said it like a warning, but Sakura held onto it like a promise. There would always be another patient. She wasn't sure what to look forward to, but at least for now, there was one more shift.
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For the first few days, Sasuke slept. Time in prison must have put more stress on his body than he realized; sometimes he had nightmares, but most of the time, he was simply unconscious. That void was easy enough to slip into, but harder to crawl out from.
Kakashi's home was clean and tidy, with simple artwork, plenty of books, and a fair amount of indoor plants. It was by no means large, but it's owner had a way of making himself scarce. Sasuke never heard him leaving, but if Kakashi was gone, a few nin-dogs from his pack would be there instead. Bull would nod in greeting and Bisuke slept at his feet. Pakkun refused to speak to him.
Easily bored, Naruto didn't wait around when Sasuke slept. He came by for dinner every night though, arms full of take-out containers and mouth overflowing with stories. Thankfully, the replacement had yet to make an appearance. After the first week, he wasn't sure that Sakura would.
He hadn't seen her for years. It made no sense to be acutely aware of her absence now.
Sasuke hated physical therapy with every fiber in his being, but he did it. The nurse was the same each morning and night; patient but stern, polite but otherwise aloof. Kakashi made a habit of lingering nearby when the nurse arrived; brewing tea, reading a book, or discussing recipes and meal plans.
Kakashi rarely cooked, and never made the recipes he presented during those therapy sessions. Sasuke wondered for how long he'd need to look over his shoulder, to sleep with one eye open. For as long as the Elders lived, he supposed.
Those first days passed in a blur. Once Sasuke started to regain his strength and state of mind, the days dragged on.
Late afternoon arrived in what was becoming an increasingly ordinary day, if only because of structure and routine. Sasuke was finishing a set of recommended exercises in his room when Kakashi called from the other side of the house.
"Oi, Sasuke."
Feeling like a pet dog summoned by it's master, Sasuke begrudgingly walked to the source of his voice. He'd never seen Kakashi's bedroom, but the door was open now.
Kakashi was dressed in black fatigues, which meant he was preparing to leave. His flak jacket hung over the arm of a sofa chair and his ninja packs were spread out across his neatly made bed. He was packing them in a practiced, precise order.
"You see," Kakashi began, sensing his arrival at the door frame. "I'm afraid I'm running a bit late."
"Hn." Sasuke tucked one hand into his pocket. What a surprise.
Naturally observant, and trained to scan his surroundings, Sasuke gave the room a thorough look-over. Simple, masculine and clean, like the rest of the place. His gaze was drawn to the dark wooden frames on the night stand. There were no other photographs on display in Kakashi's house.
One was the photo of Team Seven. Sasuke breathed in, surprised. He hadn't seen it since the night he left for Sound.
In the picture, Kakashi stood in the back, both hands affectionately on Sasuke and Naruto's heads, ruffling through their hair. Sakura, like always, was at the center.
They were so much younger then.
The second one was an older photograph. There were different faces and colors, but it had an uncanny likeness to theirs. The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, stood in the back as the sensei, his two hands ruffling the hair of Kakashi and another boy. Sasuke didn't recognize the girl holding up peace signs or the kid with the goggles.
Kakashi stopped unpacking and stood all the way up. "Team Minato. Me, Nohara Rin, and Uchiha Obito."
Sasuke looked over sharply. "That's Tobi."
Kakashi nodded. "In those days, he was as rowdy as Naruto, only worse. He felt the pressure from his Clan's prestige without the- well, without that sense of superiority you carried around. You know, brooding about and all."
Sasuke ignored the jab. He had so many questions about the Uchiha back then, but he didn't want to ask them. Instead, he said, "The girl?"
Kakashi didn't look at Nohara Rin. He resumed packing. "She was bold, and smart. Selfless. Sakura used to remind me of her."
Was. "She died."
Kakashi nodded. "Yes. An enemy village put a tailed-beast into her, made her into a jinchūriki and turned her into a weapon against Konoha."
Sasuke didn't remember learning about that battle from Iruka or his history books. "What happened?"
"She wouldn't let them," Kakashi said, finished with his packs. He reached for his flak jacket and shrugged it on. "She saw an opportunity to have herself killed, and took it. She jumped in front of my chidori. It tore right through her."
Sasuke stood there, wide-eyed for a fleeting second of horror. He recovered quickly, but Kakashi was watching him closely. Too closely.
Soon enough, Sasuke realized what Kakashi was doing. Sharing something personal and private, sharing something painful, to try and establish trust between them. To give Sasuke the opportunity to speak, as well.
He wouldn't. Aware that he was brooding but unable to help it, Sasuke turned away from his old sensei.
Kakashi went about his business. He tied his hitai-ate over his forehead, attached his packs, and slipped on his ninja sandals.
"Pakkun, Bull and Bisuke will stay here," Kakashi told him. "I'll bring dinner later. I should be back around sundown."
"Unless you're late," Sasuke muttered.
"Unless I'm late," Kakashi agreed, grinning.
Sasuke made to leave, but then Kakashi gestured to the photograph. To the one of them, Naruto and Sakura.
"You know, you're the reason Team Seven passed the Bell Test."
Sasuke wasn't sure what was worse, looking at the photo or looking at Kakashi. He landed on Kakashi.
"But you were almost the reason you all failed," Kakashi added airily, almost cheerfully.
Sasuke's brows furrowed. Pride had him asking, "Why?"
"Because you were planning to do what I did," Kakashi answered. Like a lightning storm, the static buzzed in the spaces between his unpredictable shifts in tone. From light to serious, from cheery to somber. You never knew when lightning would strike. You never knew when Kakashi would.
"You figured out my intent, that I was evaluating you on your ability to work as a team. Only then did you stop attacking me on your own. You waited with Naruto and Sakura, planning to use them to win. Minato-sensei knew I did the same, that I was only using Obito and Rin, and he passed us. I've often wondered if he shouldn't have."
Sasuke turned to the photograph of Team Seven. He remembered that. He could remember telling a tied-up Naruto and a blushing Sakura how they would take the bells as a team. It was less because of his faith in their abilities and more because he knew it was a requirement to pass. And he needed to pass, because he needed to be strong. That's all he could focus on, back then. That was all that mattered. At least, it was all that was supposed to.
Sakura smiled more back then.
"Here, take it for your room."
Kakashi was picking up the Team Seven photograph and placing it into his hand before Sasuke could decline or pull away. Kakashi withdrew just as promptly, and unless Sasuke planned to let the frame fall and crash to the floor between them, he'd have to take hold of it. So he did.
"That isn't what happened, though," Kakashi added, cheery again. He didn't make for the front door, but opened up his large bedroom window.
"You broke the rules. You gave your food to Naruto despite my instructions not to." Kakashi leapt to the window and was half-way out the ledge. "It's hard to know what Naruto might have done if your positions were reversed, but Sakura was determined to follow the rules."
The rest of his sentiment went unsaid. He'd already spoken it. You know, you're the reason Team Seven passed the Bell Test.
Sasuke stared at Kakashi's crinkly-eyed face with blank disinterest, but the frame was clutched tightly in his one hand.
"You've always put them first, haven't you? The Bell Test. Against Haku. In the Forest of Death." Kakashi listed them all so flippantly, until he reached the end. "The war. The trial."
Then, Kakashi pulled out a little orange book from his front pocket and smiled.
"See you later, Sasuke," he called out cheerfully, waving with Icha Icha as he disappeared from the window ledge.
As soon as he left, a poof of smoke appeared in the bedroom and three nin-dogs arrived. Bull nodded his usual greeting and Bisuke prattled over to sniff at his feet. Pakkun actually looked up to him, his floppy ears half-lifted.
"What's wrong with you, kid?" Pakkun asked gruffly. "I can hear your heart racing from here."
.
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By the time Kakashi arrived to meet with the Jōnin Council, everyone was seated. They were in the middle of a spirited debate, hands and papers flying. He tried to sneak in quietly, but in a room full of top-ranked ninja, the effort was futile.
Hyūga Hiashi, with his serious lavender eyes, found him first. "Late to your own party, Hatake?"
All the heads in the room turned to face their newly appointed Jōnin Commander.
"Ah yes, about that," Kakashi said, gray eyes twinkling. "Sorry I'm late, everyone. I got lost on the path of life."
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