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Covenant
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Synopsis: Four years into the Fourth Shinobi War, Orochimaru offers to turn.
He all but requests Sakura by name to be the contact.
It is, quite clearly, a trap—least of all because he's supposed to be dead.
But what is a losing side to do except take the hand that's offered?
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18. The Visit
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"SAKURA!" SHOUTED Naruto when her transformation dispelled.
He stood beside Kakashi, maybe twenty feet away, chakra masked and nearly invisible. Sakura hadn't known he was there until he stepped from behind a rock outcropping a moment after Kakashi, smile wide and shoulders tense with anticipation. A symptom her mind wasn't near as sharp anymore, nor as quick as it ought to be in wartime.
Naruto took a single step in her direction before Kakashi blocked his path with an outstretched arm. Their teacher leveled a gaze filled with disapproval and warning on the nukenin before him.
Sakura's knees nearly buckled at the jinchuriki's presence. Sasuke gripped her upper arm so she wouldn't fall—so she wouldn't run to Naruto's side. Despite her wish to let Naruto envelop her in an embrace, her feet stayed rooted in response to Sasuke's unvoiced command. Kakashi's visible eye narrowed at the scene. Naruto's brows creased as he looked between his teacher and his teammates.
Team Seven was locked in a standoff for the first time in five years.
She and Sasuke had traveled for nearly a day in silence to get here. They were somewhere near the Valley of Hell. The landscape was desolate, the hot mineral pools that littered the ground smelled of boiled eggs.
As children, young shinobi were warned to avoid this place. A dangerous, cursed clan lived near here, they said. A clan that drank blood. No one traveled here or lived nearby any longer. Jagged boulders broke free of the ground and climbed toward the sky erratically, hot springs bubbling around their base. It reeked of possibility—of what awaited the rest of the world should the war never end.
An empty, forgotten place. Perfect for a meeting no one could ever find out about.
"Give Sakura here, Sasuke," Kakashi ordered.
Sasuke's grip tightened on her arm at the words. "Konoha hasn't changed at all, I see. The Hokage was to fetch her own battle medic. She can't be bothered to show up, even when demanded?"
"The Hokage thought it better that Team Seven handle this between ourselves."
"Team Seven hasn't existed in years." Sasuke's aura dipped in temperature, his chakra spreading out from his feet.
"We'll always be Team Seven!" Naruto's back straightened for a fight. Really, he was handling Sasuke's reappearance much quieter than Sakura would've expected. He must've been briefed some time ago of his return. "You know what, I thought you were dead all this time. Turns out you're still here being the same rude bastard—"
"Stay out of this, Naruto," spat Sasuke. He turned the glare on his former teammate, lip curling into a sneer. "You don't even know what's going on, do you?"
Naruto's confused look jumped to his teacher again.
"Thank you for getting her out. The army and I are indebted to you for it. Now pass her over," Kakashi repeated, lifting a hand out in an offering, ignoring the question Naruto mentally sent his way.
Sasuke's grip tightened further as if he had no intention of letting her go. She looked between the men with the same confusion Naruto displayed. Although she anticipated some lingering animosity to rear its head when Sasuke and Kakashi reunited, she hadn't expected such open and volatile hostility.
"It's just Kakashi," she whispered, placing a green-tinged hand over Sasuke's fingers. "It's okay. He's safe. I'll go." Though her feet remained planted, waiting for Sasuke's approval.
The air still buzzed with the risk of a fight.
"...Fine." Sasuke's hold loosened, and he beckoned Naruto over. "Come get her, dobe."
Naruto bound to her side in an instant. She stepped into his waiting arms as soon as Sasuke let go. Like a hawk beside them, he watched his old teammates' exchange. Naruto's clutch was gentle on her wrist; his other hand pushed bangs out of her eyes to examine her clearly. A shadow grew on his brow.
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked.
She shook her head and stepped closer, wrapping him in a hug. "I'm so happy you're here," she answered instead.
Her teammates shared a look behind her back, then Sasuke's hot gaze fell away from them.
"Let your leaders know to take better care of their loyal shinobi." His voice carried in the wind.
She could see from the corner of her eye how Kakashi pushed his hands into his pockets, signaling he had no intention of escalating the matter. "None of the Kage would intentionally harm Sakura—"
"That includes you, Kakashi," Sasuke barked. "Mind your choices in the future."
Kakashi tsked. "And why was she caught on your base at all, Sasuke?"
Naruto let go of her to turn to their teammate, whose chakra spiked dangerously with a warning.
"What did you summon her for?" their teacher pressed on.
"For information, you—"
"What information was it, that your bases were going on lockdown? Except, if that were it, why didn't you send her back before it happened? It certainly wasn't to inform us of any upcoming battles, considering nothing happened in the three weeks she's been gone. Right?"
Sasuke gripped Kusanagi's hilt. "What are you implying?"
"I'm letting you know that to the Kage, it looks an awful lot like you summoned her there intending to let her get caught in the lockdown."
"Watch what you—"
"Sasuke wouldn't do that!" Naruto shouted over his teammate in his defense. "C'mon Kakashi, he may be a bastard, but he wouldn't do that to Sakura."
"Of course I believe that. However, the Kage don't know what Team Seven knows. Isn't that right, Sasuke?" He didn't reply, and Kakashi shrugged. "Well, regardless, moving forward, please be more mindful when summoning her. I fear things will start moving quickly from this point on, so you shouldn't pull her into your base on a whim. It could get dangerous for you, but even more dangerous for Sakura."
"That's fine. I don't need to summon her at all, then. My information can be sent by bird. But how about telling your Hokage she should do better not to intentionally break her strongest assets," Sasuke growled. "As I said, Konoha hasn't changed at all. You force—"
"Sakura is a fine kunoichi. She's more than capable of handling—"
"She's unstable!"
"That's enough, Sasuke!" she yelled, reaching out to grip his arm. Sasuke could say what he wanted about the Hokage, but she didn't want him airing whatever mental state she'd let him witness.
Naruto grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Unstable? What's wrong, Sakura? What's going on?"
"I'm fine! Let's just go—"
Sasuke's cold gaze slid sideways to Naruto. "Did you know she was trapped in Madara's base for almost five days?"
Kakashi stepped forward, slowly closing the distance to his students. "Let's not—"
"I just found out a few days ago... Sakura, I'm so sorry. If I'd known, I would've—"
"Did Tsunade tell you how she ended the lockdown?"
Kakashi was beside Sasuke now. "Now is not—"
Sasuke evaded Kakashi's hand. "They sent your other teammate to die, Naruto. Did—"
Sakura reached for him again, too. "Stop!" Naruto could absolutely not find out that Sai had died for her—
"—you know that? My replacement."
"What? What do you mean, die?!"
"Oh." Sasuke snorted disdainfully as he looked back at the stone-faced Kakashi. "So they didn't tell you. Figures."
Naruto's fingers were shaking on her shoulders. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that Sai is dead. I killed him."
Naruto's chakra suddenly released, orange and deadly, laced with anger. His hands were fisted in the collar of Sasuke's shirt the next breath; the other man glared but allowed it.
"If you're joking around, it's not fucking funny—"
Sakura tugged at both men, trying to separate them. "Sasuke, drop it—"
"Ask Sakura if you don't believe me. She watched."
Naruto's wide eyes fell on her, and she squeezed her own shut before his emotions swallowed her whole.
"You're lying..."
"Tsunade sent him to die, Naruto. But the Hokage didn't tell you that, huh?"
"What's he saying, Kakashi?" Naruto bellowed. "That can't be right!"
Kakashi seemed to take a breath and planted his feet. "Sai accepted a mission to get Sakura out of Madara's base. He was aware of the risk when—"
"You see?" Sasuke chuckled icily. "They made her watch me kill him. Your Kage's orders."
"Tsunade wouldn't do that!" cried Naruto. The same cry that consumed her when she'd first learned, too.
Sasuke glared at Naruto, ripped his fingers off his shirt, then turned and stepped into Kakashi's face. "Take better care of your remaining students, Kakashi. Understand?"
"I've been doing the best job I can under the circumstances, so please explain how I can improve, Sasuke."
Sasuke glowered. "I always hated that about you. Always acting as if you're smarter than everyone around you."
"Aa, it's like looking into a mirror, right?" replied Kakashi, his eyes scrunched with a smile.
The glower gave way to a glare as Sasuke lowered his voice. "She's unstable, and the Hokage's recent decisions are only making it worse. The Allies are so incompetent that even your strongest shinobi are crumbling, and nothing's being done about it since no one can step up. Have you no other capable medics?"
"Ah, I see," Kakashi nodded, casting a look in Sakura's direction. "So this is about your concern for her, then."
"I am not concerned for her. I'm concerned about the agreement I made with an army that continuously reminds me that they're too weak to win!"
"We just won the last battle."
"Because Madara's army couldn't kill anyone! Do you hear what I'm trying to fucking say?"
Kakashi placed a gentle hand on his student's shoulder, and it was surprisingly not shaken off. "Everyone knows Sakura's importance to our success."
"So I'm warning you to watch over the agreement's contact better!" Sasuke roared, raising the eyebrows of all three people around him. His chest heaved once before a blank facade fell back across his face and posture. He swatted Kakashi's hand away. "If you lose the contact, the Allies will regret it in more ways than one."
"Are you threatening to abandon the agreement over this? That's quite unlike you, Sasuke."
"When have I ever threatened?" His glare shifted briefly to Sakura, who watched him with wide, watery eyes and bated breath. He may insist it was over the agreement, but it sounded so much like this was all for her. "That term implies there's a possibility I wouldn't honor my word. So don't test me, Kakashi, and let your little leaders know the same. There isn't anything in my past that I decided on and didn't fulfill."
Kakashi kept a passive look on his face as Sasuke turned on his heel and sped towards the teleport tag to Water Country miles back. Naruto wrapped her in another hug, whispering into her hair, assuring her things would be okay.
Sakura hadn't realized she was shaking.
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The trip to Kumo was agonizing. Naruto cried the whole way, and there was nothing Sakura could do to comfort him except hold back her own tears for his sake. In the most immediate sense, she was the reason for his pain in the end.
If she hadn't gotten trapped in Madara's base. If she didn't fall asleep for three days. Didn't take so many soldier pills to refill her seal. Hadn't released her Hundred Healings and drained it. If Sasuke never summoned her to his base. If she wasn't the contact—if there wasn't even an agreement.
Kakashi did a decent job filling the painful silence with his harmless rambles, but nothing could drown out the possibilities rattling her brain. There were thousands of little decisions that culminated in Sai's death. A single deviation, one slight change, could've saved his life. Like, if Sakura hadn't suggested targetting so many coordinates at once during the last battle. If she hadn't let her dead friends' ghosts stop her from attacking the podium.
There were a thousand different outcomes that could've happened. Yet, the only one fulfilled was the one that took Sai's life.
Sakura wasn't sure what the pious would call such a thing. Predetermination or divine judgment. Some holy term to curtain over the empty, savage misery of a reality without any deeper meaning than fleeting survival and eventual death.
The jinchuriki were rejoining the fight.
Naruto and B would remain stationed together with their detail, though not in Kumo or Suna due to separation contracts. The other Kage were wary of letting them base at Konoha since it already had a significant share of power within the army. So it was agreed that Naruto and B would move to Kiri base.
Kakashi's hesitancy in explaining the move made Sakura think he wasn't in total agreement with the decision. But he wasn't Hokage yet, and even if he was, the Raikage had already convinced the Mizukage and the Tsuchikage to vote with him. The Kage wanted to end the battle soon, and they knew well enough that the army's full strength was needed for the final battle.
Although Sakura's gut told her that Madara had been pushing to end it quickly since Sangosho. She hoped the Kage weren't playing into a trap.
Kakashi and Naruto left only an hour after dropping her off. The mission to escort her was against policy from the start; Naruto had strict orders to report to Kiri as soon as Sakura entered Kumo safely.
Naruto hugged her and said he'd write soon. But he didn't look her in the eye and let go more quickly than she was used to. Kakashi patted her head affectionately and left without a word more. What was he supposed to say?
He hadn't done anything to stop this, just as always.
The Raikage appraised her with satisfaction when her boys ducked out of his tent. "I'm glad you're here, Haruno. It's a great honor to formally host you in Kumo. C speaks highly of you so often that it's felt like you've been here the whole time."
"Thank you. The honor is mine, Raikage," she said with a bow.
"I understand you have obligations within the agreement that may pull you away. Feel free to respond to any summons at will. Report the information directly to me upon your return."
"Yes, Raikage."
"Further, I've instructed my medical squads that you're now in command. If they give you any trouble, seek me out immediately. I don't believe you'll find any issue, however. Your reputation precedes you."
It was a strange conversation. Sakura was used to implicit respect from those below her rank but was rarely on the receiving end of explicit praise from leadership outside of Konoha's.
"Thank you, Raikage. Is there anything specific you'd like me to work on while I'm in your care?"
"I'm interested in the soldier pills Konoha has developed. They're better adapted to battle than the ones Kumo uses."
She hadn't been instructed to keep it secret nor saw any reason to do so. It was her formula to give, anyway, and if the armies were now integrated this kind of information sharing should be expected. The loss of one base would only increase the likelihood that the rest would fall. Anything Sakura could do to keep Kumo afloat, she'd gladly agree.
"I'm happy to share it with your medics."
"Thank you, Haruno. Beyond that, we're still heavily injured from the attack on Lightning before the last battle. With your skill, I hope you can get more of my shinobi out of medical and cleared to fight."
"I will do my best."
He leaned back in his chair. Sakura had once found this man to be one of the most intimidating shinobi she'd ever met, but the Raikage crossed his arms in a way that reminded her so much of Tsunade she nearly laughed. His stare was curious and evaluating.
"Is there anything you need in return? We...handle our talent differently in Kumo. If you request it, it will be done." There was a dig against her mentor laced in the casual statement.
She smiled stiffly. Although she'd never forgive Tsunade, she wouldn't stand by and let another Kage slander her. The Raikage shouldn't go any further than this.
"I've made no objection to my handling," she replied pointedly. "And there's nothing I need at the moment. May I come to you in the future should something arise?"
"Any time. If that's all, please go introduce yourself to medical. They've been patiently waiting for the new commander."
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Her time in Kumo passed like a daydream. She haunted the base like a wraith, both present and not present at any moment.
One week turned into two, turned into three. The fall chill settled with finality on the base, much more cold and windy in this northern territory than she was familiar with in Fire Country. She got through the days on calming draughts. One a day turned into two, turned into three—until she was brewing more of the tonic daily in between her responsibilities.
It kept her mind gently glued together and thoughts shallow. Drugged.
Sakura knew it wasn't healthy, but the alternative was to lay comatose in her tent and let her thoughts kill her. She found out that she spent over two weeks in Orochimaru's base after leaving the Land of Tea. Over two weeks inside Sasuke's room with no awareness of anything. Someone had kept her washed and hydrated because her skin smelled of soap, her hair was brushed out, and she wasn't dead by the time Sasuke had roused her from the surrender.
But there were no such servants, or whoever had maintained her vacant body, in Kumo. She only had herself to rely on here, and so many others depended on her survival. Although the state in which she maintained was irrelevant so long as she could still perform her duties effectively.
So she took her tonics that shielded her from the shadows and carried on.
Tsunade wrote to her every four days without reply. The woman's voice in writing was completely unlike the way she spoke.
Her mentor apologized for what she'd put Sakura through and asked to be forgiven. But she didn't apologize for Sai's death or for sending him to begin with. In fact, Tsunade only mentioned Sai once, in her first correspondence. It read,
Sakura,
Sai left you a letter. Shikamaru brought it with him when the rest of the team returned. If you want, I will send it to you. Otherwise, I'll keep it safe in my desk until you're ready to receive it. I am so very proud of you and relieved more than you can imagine knowing you're safe in our army again. You probably blame me for what happened, and I won't deny it was my plan. When I told you I'd do anything to ensure your survival through this war, I meant it. But, my dearest student, while I plan around your life, I know the toll I'm placing on you in turn. I only pray that one day you will look upon me with understanding and that it slowly grows into fondness once again. I cherish the days I've spent as your mentor and hold you above anyone else. Yet, even while writing this, I can't promise my decisions won't cause you pain again in the future. I can promise that I will protect you, always. I await your reply and hope you find it in yourself to forgive me.
With love,
Tsunade
She never wrote his name again.
And she never attached Sai's note, either; perhaps because she thought it was the only way Sakura might respond. Or maybe her mentor knew that Sakura wasn't ready to read it yet.
Every letter ended with the same line. I await your reply and hope you find it in yourself to forgive me.
The sign-off angered Sakura. As if forgiveness was something she was required to search for. Why, though? She never asked to live through this war. She hadn't asked to be pulled from Madara's base. Tsunade decided on her own that Sakura's life mattered more than others. Why did Sakura have to find forgiveness over a choice that was made for her?
If it was Sakura's choice, she would've rather died in that underground cave.
No. She wouldn't forgive Tsunade.
But the Hokage continued to write. She spoke of Konoha base and the status of medical. She'd intercede small memories the two of them shared. Wrote about upcoming plans and the movements of people she knew Sakura would be interested in.
The Kage had decided it was time to go on the offensive. It was obvious now that the Allies needed to destroy the last three coordinates, but early scouting showed defenses were significantly increased around the hidden rooms. Any further attempts would assuredly result in large-scale battles. So they intended to deplete Madara's numbers beforehand by attacking and eradicating known, smaller enemy bases. Raids happened across every country now, every day.
The more enemies the Allies could take out before attacking a coordinate, the fewer troops Madara had to send in response.
When Tsunade's letter explained the plan two weeks into her stay in Kumo, she'd immediately gone to the Raikage to request that she lead field medical. Dispatch me on all the attacks, she'd said. He readily agreed, despite Tsunade sending word that Sakura was not to leave base.
Sakura was useful in base medical, yes. But she was not utilized best in base medical. Her skill and training were ideal for battle, where she could keep fighters up in real-time and save them from needing base medical in the first place. And her presence meant the Raikage needn't assign any other medics to that particular mission.
She was a highly effective one-woman medical squad, especially since the attack teams were often fifteen shinobi or less. A number she could manage in her sleep at this point.
The Raikage sent her out in constant rotation.
Hundreds of enemy bases were scattered across the five countries. Madara preferred to spread his numbers out, unlike the Allies who housed their army primarily within five central bases. After four weeks, Sakura had been dispatched to and wiped out six enemy bases. They'd have to destroy four or five times more to even dent the estimated enemy numbers within Lightning Country, though; but on they pressed.
Sasuke hadn't called for her once since she arrived in Kumo base, despite his assurance that he'd do so 'soon enough.' No new intelligence, no word about Madara's moves, nothing on enemy plans to counter the Allies' offensive. Not even a note sent by bird, like he'd told Kakashi.
Sakura figured that she should've known it would come to this. Be it that he lost confidence in her ability to be the contact, with the Allies in general, or because it was simply the fallout she'd anticipated.
If it came to it, she'd bet on it being the latter.
Sasuke had succumbed to the seal's power and was probably brooding over the emotional leverage he'd unwillingly given her. Was probably icing her out to prove a point—that he didn't mean it, that he didn't care, that they were nothing. Sakura found she didn't really have it in her to feel hurt by the retaliation.
She'd already seen the truth, whether or not he wanted to see it himself.
And six weeks into his silence, he finally broke it. She'd made a nearly fatal mistake.
They were battling enemies outside a base near the coast closest to Turtle Island. It was one of the larger bases they'd attacked, and she came with a twenty-man squad. She could've stayed somewhere in the distance, hidden and remote healing. But she hated sitting back in these minor skirmishes, where she knew her battle strength could be immensely beneficial.
So Sakura fought alongside her squad. Though, to prevent the enemy from knowing she was present, she wore a full-face black mask that pulled over her head and covered her hair. Her squad hid Katsuyu under pieces of clothing.
It was a tactic the Raikage insisted on. He was adamant that if the enemies found out Sakura was being dispatched on these small-scale missions, it'd become significantly more dangerous for her and all Kumo shinobi around Lightning.
For its goal, it was successful. No enemy had yet to flag her identity.
And the more missions she was sent on, the more her prestige within Kumo seemed to grow. Even Darui dipped his head to her when she entered a room. Whispers about her combat ability trailed her heels. Stories about how she could revive even the dead spread over nighttime base fires.
On this mission, however, her frayed mind that she kept guarded as a closely held secret didn't stay as quiet as it needed to.
She fought a squad of three on the fringe of the battle. She dodged their attacks and struck at their openings fluidly, their skill unequal to hers but their numbers dragging the fight out, when a teammate's kunai draped in lightning flew over her shoulder and thwacked into the face of the enemy before her. It landed between his eyes, lightning spreading over his face and neck, sending him into a convulsion before he collapsed.
He dropped to the ground like Sai's head.
Sakura's brain exploded with repressed horror at the abrupt connection. Her body iced over—muscles tensed and frozen. Suddenly, she was in a damp cave, enemies all around, the rough floor splotched with puddles of her friend's blood. She was useless and still as a mannequin as hundreds of names listed off in crisp order, the walls echoing with the memory of screams. Her eyes widened at the dead man's body at her feet as it shrunk and morphed into a decapitated skull, rolling slowly over until it faced her with a smile. Sai was smiling. His hair was wet, face all crimson and purple, teeth bloody. The arteries of his neck spewed as geysers onto Sasuke's feet.
It was the first flashback of that night—the first time she could remember anything that happened in that cave.
The seal on her neck erupted like a volcano as she staggered back from the vision, her eyes burning and throat closing on a scream. Sai is smiling. Sai was headless. Sai was dead, for her, mutilated, humiliated, hemorrhaging and decapitated so she could live—
The shock carved through her awareness so acutely that she momentarily forgot to maintain her summon. Katsuyu popped away, no longer supported. The moment hadn't lasted more than a few seconds.
"Is Haruno down?!"
The cry turned her head in time to watch as two of her Allies were skewered and crumbled to the earth, her healing no longer protecting them.
"Who's got eyes? Find Haruno!" came another shout over the growing clamor. The small force of Allies was panicking. Most attack squads ran with three healers—this squad only had one.
The two shinobi left before her shared a look, realization slowly dawning on them.
"Haruno? Sakura Haruno?" one asked as they both turned back to face her. A cruel smile overtook the man's face, and he raised his voice: "The battle medic is over here!"
Fuck, she cursed, wrangling her thoughts back from the panic. She casted a replacement jutsu half a second later and rushed closer to the squad pack. It would take at least ten seconds to resummon Katsuyu, but she wasn't sure she'd get it.
"I'm here!" she yelled as she neared the team leader. "Give me cover so I can—"
She flipped up, dodging a blast of fire that nearly took her arm. All the enemies seemed to have turned their sights on her.
"Kill Haruno first!" came an order.
Then they were flying at her from all directions. She released her seal without another thought, felt the chakra of Hundred Healings lace across her body. The covenant's seal throbbed with a warning.
She snatched a shuriken from the air, slashed it deep across her palm, pressed it into the ground quickly before the wound healed, and summoned a building-sized portion of Katsuyu. Jutsu and weapons slammed into her and the slug like mosquitos. There was a flash of pain at each impact, the familiar ache as her body forcibly mended itself instantly, but the sensation was one to which she'd long been numb.
"Reattach to the Allies if you can, Lady Katsuyu! Sorry for dropping you so suddenly!"
"No problem," said the summon, sinking into the ground to find her teammates.
A kunoichi was before her a second later, and a blade sunk into Sakura just below her breast. It pierced through her liver and exited out her back. One of her teammates swallowed the woman into a crack in the ground with an Earth Release technique and slammed it shut, crushing the kunoichi's body and silencing her second-long shriek of death. Sakura dodged away from the rest of the enemies as she pulled the sword out with a single, swift tug.
Although Tsunade had warned her against it, she pushed her Hundred Healings into the summoning connection. The portions of Katsuyu that had found teammates lit up. A fallen shinobi from a minute earlier stood from the ground, a beacon of green clinging to his thigh. With so few portions, it wasn't painful at all; with her refilled chakra reserve, it barely dented her supply.
"Let's end this!" she shouted, emptying her mind of all but battle.
There were two enemies blitzing in her direction. She shot forward at breakneck speed to meet them, too fast for shinobi of their caliber to follow. She caught one with a skull-crushing punch in the face in the span of a blink and the other with a roundhouse kick to the stomach that snapped his spine in two. The second ninja's corpse sped back through the air, flying far into the distance.
The battle hadn't lasted much longer after that. It was surprising how quickly a fight could end when one side didn't have to worry about dodging anything that wouldn't dismember or decapitate them.
Her teammates were so amazed by her technique that her momentary blunder amid the battle seemed forgotten entirely. The mission lead hadn't even reported to the Raikage that she'd let Katsuyu's summon slip. Though, he spent three minutes of the debrief in awe about how he'd tanked seven kunai to the back yet left the battle without so much as a scratch.
The mission lead also selectively glossed over the bird that swooped down as the last enemy was slayed. It landed delicately on Sakura's shoulder and held its leg out for her expectantly. The missive in Sasuke's prim handwriting ordered her to Report immediately.
She'd told the Raikage about the summons as soon as the lead bowed and exited after his report. They both agreed that Sakura wouldn't Report immediately. Many people who returned from other attack missions still needed her assistance. And truth be told, she was nervous about porting to Orochimaru's base without rest. Last time she'd arrived worn out and let herself sleep so long that she wound up trapped.
It was a lesson she only needed to be taught once.
When she bid the Raikage farewell, the sun had dipped below the mountains to the west. It probably wasn't any later than seven in the evening, but the days were getting shorter.
She'd follow Sasuke's command in the morning, she decided. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the seal drummed uncomfortably on her neck, needle-like pricks spreading across her chest. As if it was angry that she planned to disregard her pact of expeditiousness.
By the time she stepped into her tent two hours later, after stopping by the medical and food tents, the prickling had become a dull pounding.
She downed a calming drought and ignored it.
The accommodation she'd accepted was on the edge of base, on the outskirts of the web of sleeping tents. It was tiny. More similar to a travel shelter than a base shelter. It fit a sleeping mat, a small chabudai, and space in the corner for her clothes and seals of items. The Raikage had offered her a larger tent, one more similar to his own. But Sakura didn't need it or want it.
Empty spaces only made room for ghosts.
She left that admission quickly. The excessive amount of tonic rolling through her system kept the battlefield at bay, but it was best not to poke a sleeping bear.
Regardless, the snug arrangement fit her needs just fine. She unsealed a medical book from one of her scrolls, lit the lamp that hung from the tent's ceiling, and settled at the chabudai.
Not thirty minutes later he ducked into the tent, startling her so badly that she jumped along with her heartbeat, banging her knees into the low table. Her not-quite-there mind briefly thought she was hallucinating him standing there. Dressed in all black, a hooded cape concealing his identity to anyone but her, his head hung to avoid brushing the slope of the tent.
"Sa—Sasuke?" she stuttered, leaning back on her palms behind her. Breath wild from the jump scare. "Are you—is that you?" Are you real? she managed not to voice.
"Don't be so loud," he chided, voice low like the lamp he dodged around. "You'll alert everyone."
The hood moved slightly, and she knew he was inspecting her small space. Then he tugged the cape off entirely, draping it over his forearm.
Her lungs hitched on an inhale. It'd been a month and a half since she'd seen Sasuke. He looked worn out in a way that sleep wouldn't cure, his eyes more dull than guarded as they typically appeared. But his skin glistened with a sheen of sweat like he'd been running for some time, his hair was chopped shorter with a recent cut that didn't hide his eyes, and his collarbones peaked out from the low, wide neck of his grey shirt. He rubbed the toned trapezius muscles lining his neck with one hand. Rolled his shoulders out.
Sakura watched him with a dry throat as if witnessing the creation of mankind.
Her senses crawled back to her. "Why...what the hell are you doing here?" she whispered, stunned. "Are you crazy?"
His eyes moved from the pile of clothes in the corner to her disheveled hair.
"Why are you ignoring my summons?"
He said it in the same scolding, monotone voice she'd grown accustomed to, but the words themselves seemed so childish it made her blink.
"You've seriously lost your mind. You're gonna get caught—"
"Is the Eight-Tails stationed here?"
She sighed with exasperation. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"If not, then no one here is skilled enough to detect me," he answered with finality. After a pause, he added, "So long as you don't call the whole base over."
It was true that his chakra was expertly concealed. So much so that if Sakura wasn't looking at him, she wouldn't notice his presence in the room. Her eyes roved over his figure, starved from his absence.
"What are you doing here?" she quietly asked again, his appearance calming her and exciting her in the same breath.
"...You're supposed to remain on base." His voice was controlled, and his demeanor was neutral, but the air about him was coiled and buzzing. His chakra in Sakura's seal churned with annoyance. His gaze skimmed the space in a manner she thought one might use to collect themselves. A habit she never would've attributed to the blunt Sasuke she knew.
Then his eyes met hers again, a spark alighting within them—and she could read him like a book.
He was actually livid underneath all that composed posturing.
Her eyes narrowed. It was true that Tsunade ordered Sakura to remain on base. But as the Hokage had told her before—she could do anything she damn well pleased when it came to medical. The Raikage seemed to agree since he hadn't paused in granting her request to enter field medical.
Not even the Hokage's word bound her anymore, it seemed.
But Sasuke shouldn't know about the Hokage's word in the first place.
"How do you know my orders?"
"Why did you release your seal?"
"And how do you know that?" she wondered, her brow creasing.
"I told you." He held out his hand, wrist up, revealing the seal. "It alerts when you're in trouble."
It must signal when the byakugou flooded her pathways. She stowed away that revelation for later.
"There was a fight. As you can see," she motioned across her sitting body with a flick of her hand, "I'm fine. Now go back to your base before you're caught here... I'll come to you in the morning."
He stared at her, his expression unrevealing. Her brow ticked up in question when his right eye flashed red briefly. Then, suddenly:
"How's your mind?"
Sakura frowned. "Don't scan me like that. I'm fine enough to continue being the contact, Sasuke, so stop worrying. By the way, why hasn't there been any new intelligence?"
"Madara's investigating the depth of the information leaks. He'll be done soon. Until then, there probably won't be any attacks."
"Mm... Is that why you haven't summoned me?"
He looked at her sleeping mat. "Aa." His body was so unnaturally rigid he might as well have been fidgeting.
"Just sit down," she said, pointing at the mat. "You're making me nervous, hovering like that. You can sit there—as many times as I've sat on yours, I think it'll be okay."
She felt warmth pulse across the seal. Saw the way his mind turned on the suggestion behind his stare. Was sure he was going to deny her and leave—
Then he sighed and seemed to flop into a sitting position. As if he surprised his own body into the action.
Her seal hummed with pleasure, and she couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. Sasuke's leg stretched out and nearly touched her thigh; the other was bent up under an arm. He stared blankly at her beam before turning away with another exasperated sigh.
"Stop grinning like that, you look insane."
She looked back at the book on the table, sucking her cheeks in to erase the turn of her mouth.
"...I shouldn't be here," he mumbled under his breath.
"Mm… So, is this the seal's work again?"
She felt his glare pass over her in response to her gall. "Yes."
"What's it feel like, for you?"
"What's yours feel like?"
She glanced at him sideways. "I could tell you, but I think you don't really want to know. I think you just don't want to answer me."
"Why would I ask a question I don't want to know?"
"Fine, then I'll tell you." But she didn't. The next words caught in her throat, heat blooming across her cheeks.
"...Okay?" he goaded, humor catching on the end. "Then tell me."
"Fine. Okay." She took a breath of confidence. What did it matter if she admitted it? They'd already kissed. Sasuke had already comforted her. The man was literally sitting here in a base where he was considered an enemy—with her, someone he'd thought of for years should be, at best, excommunicated or, at worst, murdered. If he hadn't left yet, her words wouldn't likely scare him off. So what would this admission change that hadn't already been altered?
...She nodded at the ground, at the short distance between them. "It feels like it wants me to close this gap."
He smirked so fast she thought she might've imagined it. "That's not your seal."
She blushed hot and let her eyes fall back to the book with a frown. It was genin Sasuke, out to play. The one she'd fallen in love with ages ago. One she knew well, missed all the time, still wished to save. It wasn't fair of him at all. He should really do something about the seal's effect on him.
"What are you doing here, Sasuke? Seriously..."
"Just be quiet about it," he commanded as if he was already busy mulling over the same question. "...If you want."
She sighed and resumed reading. His presence was, admittedly, comforting in a way that made her feel safe. The hush of the tent was restful—it reminded her of the quiet times she'd spent with him when he was masked. When there hadn't been any expectation beyond that they both hoped to end the war. Except that now, his gaze was balmy against her profile, and the room they shared was much less forgiving than his spacious, barren bedroom.
"Do you want something to read? I have a genjutsu scroll that might be new for you," she finally asked, unable to bear his silent examination any longer.
She reached for the scroll before he hummed his affirmation. He caught it when she tossed it to him, rolling it open gently. Sakura used the moment to study him in return. Everything about this situation was overwhelmingly domestic. His sudden appearance screamed protective. Even now, when he was free to leave any time, his body seemed poised to remain in this tent until she kicked it out.
It was completely unlike him. Something she'd never guess in a million years if someone had asked her about this very moment only a short time ago. As if his decisions were driven by nothing more than instinctual emotion, seeming to stupefy even his own right mind.
Perhaps his seal hadn't been pleased with the long separation.
There was no harm in pushing her luck in this situation, she thought. If it ended poorly, she'd still port to Orochimaru's lab and see him in the morning.
"Can I move closer, Sasuke?" she asked quickly before her gut gave out.
"No."
"I won't try anything. Promise." What would give him a reason to agree? "Physical touch helps my mind stay grounded. It's hard for me to sit in silence too long..." He regarded her from behind the scroll, his eyes narrowing in distrust. She kept poker-faced, weathering it. "I'll just sit there. Nothing funny. I swear."
His gaze fell back to the scroll. The hand his seal was on twitched against the parchment.
"...Aa."
Her heart skipped a beat. She steeled herself before he could change his mind, crawled to his side on the sleeping mat, and sat down beside him with the book in her lap. Their arms were a hair's width apart, the heat of his body pressed into her side.
"No closer," he warned.
She felt emboldened by this small victory. "I promise. So…why did you offer to turn against Madara?"
He scoffed. "This wasn't an invitation to gather, and that's none of your business."
"Okay..." She glanced over at him. "Then what are your plans after the war?"
He looked back with a scowl. "You said you'd just sit here, not sit here and babble."
Sakura rolled her eyes, ignoring how her chest tightened at his barb. "So you came all this way to be rude when I'm trying to have a conversation? What's the point."
"I came to check on—" His mouth snapped shut. He glared at the scroll in his hands and tried again: "I wouldn't be rude if you'd just be quiet like I said from the start."
Sakura grinned, not having missed his near-admission. "You know, Sasuke, it's much easier when you're honest."
"That isn't honesty. That's just the seal."
"Well," she turned a page in the book, "it's honest enough in the moment, isn't it? And whether it's the seal or not doesn't matter to me. Even if the seal brought you, it's still you sitting here. Not some intangible seal." She wanted to kiss him, she realized with a start. She wanted to kiss him, forget everything happening outside this tent, and care only about this man by her side. That he'd come here of his own accord and hadn't left meant that at least some part of him probably wanted the same thing...right? "So regardless of the reason, the outcome is one I wanted."
She turned to look at him. He stared down at the parchment, his eyes unmoving, clearly focused on trying to look like he was reading at it.
Fuck it, Sakura thought, setting her book on the ground, the seal throbbing on her neck. What's the worst thing that could happen—he'd leave? She reached for him, intent on kissing him in the real world. Wanting to know if he was just as untamable as he'd been in the genjutsu. She lifted herself up and moved to press against him—
He twisted his body quickly and pushed her down by her shoulders into the sleeping mat. Just like when he'd calmed her out of a panic attack. Only now, he sat straight up, his chest leaned as far back as he could manage while pinning her down.
"You said you wouldn't try anything funny," he snapped, his lips curled in annoyance. But his eye was red again; it was all she needed to see to know.
It was too late for him.
"Embracing isn't funny," she said with a smirk. "It's a natural human response to stress."
Which was honest enough. Most of the older shinobi seemed to go at it like rabbits in between battles, uncaring about where it happened or who heard them.
"This is what I meant when I said you'd take things beyond reality," he sneered. "You're just a contact, I'm a source. We're nothing beyond that. Why do you keep making this more difficult for yourself?"
"It's not difficult for me at all. I just want a little comfort from the man who came to me at night for no reason." Kiss me, she funneled into the seal and smiled when he glared at her the next second. "What's wrong with wanting to feel good amidst all this hell? Surely you've wanted some kind of release at some point, too?" She didn't want to know if he'd ever found release with anyone else, though. "Don't be such a stiff, Sasuke. We're both consenting adults. You came here to see me, right? So see me... I want you to."
In a burst of chakra, she pushed herself up from the ground and wrapped her arms around his neck. In the end, she could overpower Sasuke in a battle of strength. She'd only humored him in letting herself remain pinned. And he was only lying to himself, pretending he didn't want this.
All he needed to do was leave the tent, after all.
She touched her lips to his as he'd done to her. "Just pretend it's the seal. I don't care," she whispered.
Then she smoothed a chaste kiss over his mouth and watched how his eyes darkened. She closed her own and sprinkled pecks across his cheek, down his jaw, to the side of his neck. Sucked lightly on the skin there, salty and warm; a distraction as she moved her legs up to straddle him.
As soon as she settled into his lap, she grinned into his neck with flourishing confidence. "You can pretend all you want, but you can't lie about that."
"Aa," he murmured, finally responding.
His left hand fit around her side, tugging her hip gently toward him before his grip loosened. His fingertips snuck under the hem of her shirt. They skimmed across the bare skin of her back like a sinful promise. She shivered, drawing back to look at him. He leaned on his other arm, letting his head fall to rest slightly on his shoulder. He observed her carefully with mismatched bloodline limits, expression giving nothing away.
But her seal was an inferno asking for release.
One of her arms snaked around his shoulder, her fingers on the nape of his neck. Her other hand grasped at the arm holding her in place atop him. There was no mistaking the hardness settled firmly against her womanhood—this man may seem uncaring under her scrutiny, yet he was undeniably excited under her touch.
Sakura stared at him in quiet rapture. As if he might vanish if she wasn't careful; if she moved too quick. To make sure his presence beneath her wasn't an apparition her mind conjured in the solitude of this unfamiliar tent, in an unfamiliar land.
He was all toned muscle, flushed between her legs. But also warm and inviting, shoulders open to her, eyes the world had come to fear capturing her in place.
"Well?" he asked, pitched low, his pinky pushing under the waistband of her pants at her back. He smirked, dark and dangerous, at how her body shuddered in response to so little. "All that talk and here you sit. What was it you wanted me to see?"
Gods, he was beautiful. She was suddenly shy under his attention, her fingers tightening around his arm as lust flushed in her belly and settled in the space against his erection. He tugged her hip encouragingly against him a second time, her body frozen yet enflamed by the sudden change in his behavior.
He chuckled faintly when she didn't move. "Who's the stiff, Sakura?"
He pulled her again with more force and held her there, her pelvis pressing into the firm plane of his lower stomach, the pressure sending a wave of pleasure over her body. Sasuke seemed to want her to continue leading. His tomoe languidly spun with expectation. His rigid member twitched against her.
But he wasn't taking control. As if this were a test to determine how badly Sakura wanted him. How brave she had become.
His feelings and intentions remained unclear. Even her own were murky—did she really love this man, or was she simply attached to the person he used to be? Was this longing her own or the seal's? Was it a mission or something to hold for herself? Did she want his affection or was she just seeking its comfort?
Would they regret acting on these vague emotions?
Would she?
It was already too late for her, though.
Sakura leaned forward and kissed him again. He watched her approach like a venus trap luring a fly. Her lips moved on his slowly this time; her eyes fluttered shut. Her breasts flushed against his chest, body stretching the size of him. The hand gripping his arm skimmed its length, moving up to join the other in the hair at the nape of his neck.
Sasuke tilted his head and responded, his kiss matching her speed. There was no rush in his movements. No rough anger or unhinged confusion. His lips were soft and warm, and he sucked her bottom one between them and ran his tongue across it. The kind of kiss they might've shared if history never drove Sasuke from their home, one that could've always been in peace and time. A breath she'd been holding for years seemed to shudder out of her.
His fingers flinched on her hip and his teeth nipped at the lip he suckled on. And that was the end of Sasuke's patience. Suddenly, he was kissing her harder, deeper, with a fervor she'd never known. A taste of something she'd never grow tired of. So deep she felt it root in her soul. His mouth slanted over hers, their tongues meeting in the middle before he pushed his into her mouth with dominance.
Her breath turned ragged and she was lost to him. His left hand moved deftly to her front, gliding up her stomach in unhurried contrast to his demanding mouth, pooling heat in her core with every centimeter he gained. Up, up, until his fingertips ghosted the underside of her breast beneath the wrappings and she gasped. Her thighs clenched on his hips and her hands fisted in his hair.
He hissed, drawing out of the kiss from the sudden pain. His eyes were spinning faster now; his lips bright and wet, parted with a heavy breath. They gazed at each other. His fingers danced along the edge of her hardened peak; hers moved to cup both sides of his face. The seal pulsed with the strength of a dying star, enough to make her toes curl.
She wanted him. Wanted him more than anything.
And she realized belatedly that her emotions weren't uncertain in the slightest. What had possessed her earlier in thinking she wasn't utterly besotted with Sasuke Uchiha? This had never been for the mission or some lingering childhood dream. It wasn't the seal—and she'd lied when she told him she didn't care if it was because of the seal on his part.
She wanted him to want her, too.
"Is it just the seal?" she whispered, searching his sharingan.
Sakura saw the way his mind picked apart the question. Watched him understand what she was asking. Knew what he would say before he said it when he blinked and his eye was onyx again.
He pulled his hand from under her shirt and rested it lightly on her thigh by his hip. "Yes."
Her hands dropped to his chest, gaze falling with them. She willed her eyes not to water, though her heart squeezed like the wringing of a soaked towel. His study was heavy on her dipped head, and though she was sure he knew her thoughts, he didn't push her off his lap.
It was almost more cruel than if he did.
When she thought her voice wouldn't waver, she finally asked, "Do you still want me to report tomorrow?"
She felt him shrug. "You can."
"Is there a reason I need to?" Sakura peeked at him from under her lashes.
"Well." After a pause, he lifted his left hand and knocked her forehead softly with the backside of his middle knuckle. Her mind reeled at the strange action, then he shifted in a clear indication that he meant to stand. She fell sideways to sit on the mat, thoughts processing too slow to be graceful about it. "I did agree to train if you found out about the seal."
He pushed himself from the floor and reached for the discarded cloak piled by the tent's opening, pulling it on.
"So, come in the morning." The seal buzzed— "If you want," he said over his shoulder as he opened the burlap flap and jumped away.
hi!
I'll be taking a break next week as I'm traveling for the holiday :)
I expect to post the next chapter on Oct. 14/15...hope you enjoy this one!