Author Note: Well um, this is the result of being bored on a holiday, which explains the once again quick update, so please do enjoy.
Author Note Update: Ok I didn't put this seven hours ago but I was just so tired. Well now I'm awake! And uh, considering the gripe that some of you had about the "articulate random villager" in the last chapter, I really do apologize. I got carried away. It ended up being told to a written perspective, but you know, I really did not want to portray that particular scene through the perspective of some illiterate buffoon so I just went crazy with it! And he may not be just some random villager! He could write the dialogue for "Itcha Itcha Paradise" for all we know! (that is of course if the dialogue for "Itcha Itcha Paradise" goes beyond grunts, and moans, and "faster, faster!" Not very articulate I must say.
Chapter Two: Revelations
Haruno Sakura awoke from a most fitful slumber at around what was probably noon. She moaned as she haphazardly rolled out of her bed. She was aching and sore in a number of places she was embarrassed to think about. The encumbered konoichi wobbled and fell to the floor when her head got hammered with the most despicable migraine. Sakura groaned out her displeasure, fighting the dizziness as her room continued to spin before her eyes. She closed them and made to concentrate; and pushed a finger to a spot on her neck and focused a thin stream of chakra to a single tiny nerve leading to her brain. Only the most renown of medical-nins were able to control there energies so precisely without damaging neurons and ending with a seizure. As a result, her nausea dissolved instantly and she finally regained her balance.
Sakura meekly straightened her horribly wrinkled nightgown, she refused to submit enough to change her attire during the night so was left to doze off in soggy pajamas, she was lucky she didn't catch fever. But whatever maladies of the mind were easily reversible; however, there was no cure for heartache.
It was a more a signature component of the species than a habit that she did what most teenage girls did in the morning, gussy herself up. Her bare feet pointlessly glided to her studio where she could effectively assess the damage done to her immaculate exterior. She would have gasped if she was still under the pretence of behaving like a shallow bitch, but under the circumstances, her ghastly reflection was more than justified.
Sakura's outlandishly pink hair had its tentacles aimed to the sky that would have made Jiraiya blush. Her mangled mane stood like a beacon within the bowel of a light eating vortex, making her question as to why her hair was pink in the first place when she was conceived in a family of brunettes! There was also the fact that it "wonderfully" accentuated her runway worthy forehead. She wandered from vigilantly analyzing her oddly shaped cranium to scrutinizing whatever lay below it. Her eyes were shaded to a dazzling ocean green which would've been true on any other day if they didn't look so dull and oblivious. Deep lines marred the skin below her eyes and her pallor was the glee of a mortician. She looked like the living dead and should drop to the ground out of consideration to her motion deprived brethren as they wretched in their graves in envy.
Sakura's lips were trapped in a persistent frown, as her eyes bore her tired soul. She used to cry so much in the past for seemingly nothing, and now that her heart really, really, REALLY wanted to, she could not will any more tears to seep like poison from accursed fangs. Her eyes were but a parched reservoir where her spirit meandered aimlessly searching for a light of blonde hair that was her paradise. Alas she had only struck upon an oasis as her soul drank greedily, relishing in the comfort that the new and blessed wave of tears brought to her as they flooded her vision and streamed down her pale cheeks.
Sakura could not bear the image standing before her, burying her face in her hands as renewed sobs smashed free from her broken heart. Tormenting herself with the reality that Naruto had once treaded those cold empty rooms with a darkness that had shown so obviously in the space of his blue eyes, so casually veiled by a silk façade in the form of a grin. Sakura didn't care to look deeply in those eyes to see for what they were, not when it had mattered the most. Sakura should have been used to being too late, too late to help her friends. Too late in realizing that her 'love' for Sasuke was a farce. Too late to realize that she could have been loved by someone else who would have done so without hesitation. To late to recognize that there was a boy whose heart hurt more than hers ever did. Too late to brave, to express, and to save from death. She was again too late.
Always too late.
She ceased her bemoaning when a faint knocking made her stop. "Sakura? Are you awake now? Lunch is almost ready if you feel up to it…" There was concern in her mother's soft voice, and also a hint of frustration.
She quickly swallowed the moisture in her throat so as not to croak when she spoke. "Yes mom, I just need to shower first." Alas, she croaked.
"All right dear. Don't take too long…" She sounded impassive behind the barrier of her door, but it wasn't as if Sakura was oblivious concerning her parents' feelings towards Naruto. It was Ino who had brought her home the other night, both completely drenched while Sakura's parents waited worriedly in the living room. They had stood in shock when the two girls entered the front door, one had her arm draped over the other, carrying her while their daughter appeared lifeless. They were ready to interrogate the pair when Ino sent them a look that said to save it until later. When they had finally arrived in Sakura's room, the devastated girl immediately clung to her friend, silently sobbing on her shoulder for several hours as Ino held and hushed to soothe her broken friend.
When Ino had finished fulfilling her role as selfless best friend, she left the room emotionally exhausted. She was surprised to find Sakura's parents staring at her expectantly, her only explanation was, "You'll find out in the morning." She grudgingly left for her own home, sifting through things to tell her own parents.
As for Sakura, she had in time allowed herself to submit to her desperation for rest and slept till the noon.
She had left her bathroom feeling fresh, tender, and ready for the superficial frying pan of life. Though she gracefully went down the stairs lacking the usual jump in her step, and the glow in her eyes. Sakura continued to mourn, to grieve, and dread the days ahead. She would eventually have to buy something black, pick a nice bouquet of flowers, ones that symbolized farewells of course, and invent speeches to express her optimism that her friend had happily departed to a better place. But even though technically she already was, she didn't want to think about.
Sakura made it to the dining room to find her parents waiting patiently; she made a small bow and a quiet apology and sat herself down, making a show of literally digging into her cutlets. While boys tended to fast in their misery, girls did the opposite. Her father looked at her strangely as she continued to make a boar out of herself. Her mother, however, understood, but did not approve. An uneasy silence settled around the family until mother dearest decided t'was time it be broken.
"The demon boy doesn't deserve your pity Sakura." Her mother said out of nowhere before she filled her trap with a spoonful of rice.
Sakura froze midway from divesting her plate of its contents. As if she didn't see it coming. "What?" She asked without manners, not bothering to swallow. Her eyes shone with a new emotion, and it wasn't anything 'happy'.
Mother however did not notice her now fuming daughter, and set her utensils down, readying herself to explain to Sakura in small words the reasons to disengage from remorse. "You need not fret yourself over that…thing…Sakura. Just because you were in a team with him doesn't give you the obligation to mourn for him."
Suddenly, the food in her mouth tasted like crud and swallowed in distaste. Years ago, inner Sakura would have bitten her mother's ear off, but Sakura was a woman now, she would handle things with a bit more…finesse. Before she could calmly retort, daddy beat her to it.
"You're mother's right Sakura, there's no reason for you to feel sympathetic." He stuffed himself with more of the shit and continued. "Besides, the beast got what was coming to him."
Inner Sakura was thrashing in her cage like a rabid primate, but held her still, reigning on her self-control. The rage was starting to pour from her eyes and into her cheeks. She already had her mouth open when apparently her mother had more to say.
"It's really alright Sakura, you don't have to apologize. You weren't aware of what the monster did to the village all that time ago. But you should be grateful, since now you don't have to go to his funeral."
'Oh no she didn't!' Inner Sakura exclaimed in anger. But outer Sakura was, for that time, truly and utterly speechless. Color had drained completely from her once crimson face as she acknowledged her parents for the first time.
She…pitied them.
Did they actually harbor such unreasonable emotions? To the point where it was absurd? Did the general population always feel such unwavering contempt for the sweet little boy who had saved their home and sacrificed for countless lives time and time again while these ignorant buffoons did nothing! Her parents weren't even ninjas! How dare they judge Naruto like that! They didn't even KNOW him!
Then Sakura's face fell, draining of even more color, comprehension dawned on her and she made a small, unhappy smirk. 'I didn't know him either. And yet I rejected him. Just like them. It took me so long to finally accept him. Too long. I was no different than them. But they…they truly are happy…happy that he's dead…that's just sick!'
And so it went on. A one sided debate as her parents continued to cite the prose of Naruto's demise without opposition. They didn't even know or care if she was still in the room, too mesmerized by their own sick words. Sakura couldn't take it anymore, inner Sakura had broken free, but she didn't what it truly wanted, and that was to butcher her family with a skewer. Oh no, she wasn't gonna go for the Itachi approach, no matter how much she hated them at the moment.
She sighed sadly and closed her eyes, 'This needs to end dammit!' Inner Sakura was so good with words.
The irritated teen concentrated, and tapped her foot lightly on the floor. Her parents were immediately silenced when an incredible earthquake shook the house resulting in fallen cabinets and flying dishes. Thinks continued to topple over to her parent's horror and to Sakura's delight, who just sat there impassive to the ordeal.
When the tremor finally abated, everything was in shambles. When her incredibly flustered parents released a long held breath, the small chandelier from above the table fell off its hinges and met the china with a crash, sending both her parents from their seats, traumatized. When Sakura was satisfied with her vengeance, she left for the door. But not before she turned to her quivering family with a smirk, "That's what you get for insulting the dead." And with that said, she left, pleased with herself. Naruto would be proud.
She left the house to meet utter chaos.
The house next door seemed to be burning as the omnipotent ninjas swarmed to put it out, people wailing at their misfortune. Another house's bottom floor seemed to have collapsed completely, 'They should really build those with stronger stuff, and I should watch my own strength…I guess.' Though she didn't feel the slightest bit remorseful. They deserved it, the whole lot of them!
She just walked on, ignoring the civilians who were running around like headless chickens. She noticed Asuma and Kurenai who were surveying a house that seemed to have lost a wall. 'They were probably put on damage control…' Asuma noticed her too, and stared at her strangely, then suspiciously.
She just returned a wide grin and waved, and then strutted on her merry way. Though she was a Jounin as well and would be expected to help with the destruction, Tsunade-sempai had given those close to Naruto a day off from duty.
And so she walked, with her head down and her hands clasped behind her back, heading nowhere. She thought of going to Ino's but she probably needed the rest as much as she did. And she knew Ino's parents hated Naruto with a passion, Ino didn't deserve to have her house wrecked as well. She crossed off names in her imaginary list until she was only left with one…
Sasuke…
She turned a ways and headed to the general direction of the Uchiha Estate, opposite the marketplace. She walked on sadly until she could see the rotting gates of the Uchiha Clan, 'I can't believe he still lives their…' She stopped dead on her tracks when she spotted two familiar figures headed towards her.
"Good afternoon Sakura-chan." The rough yet pleasant voice of Yamato(1) greeted her enthusiastically.
They waited awhile until Sakura was kicked out of her reverie. "Oh…uh…hi Yamato. Sai…" She said the last one with a lot less enthusiasm.
"Hello to you too Sakura-hag." Sai(2) waited apprehensive for her reaction, but to his surprise, and disappointment, got nothing. She was successfully pretending that he didn't exist.
Sakura turned to Yamato, "So…when did you get back from your mission?" She asked not even feigning exuberance. It didn't even seem like she cared whether she would get an answer or not. It got them worried.
Yamato frowned and adjusted his helmet-thing before he answered. "Well…just now actually. But we had arrived in the Fire Country yesterday but we decided to camp out in the forest."
Sakura nodded in understanding. "Yeah, you were smart to evade the storm. But that thing must have covered the entire Fire Country." She said, her voice getting more hushed with every word until she sounded pained for some reason.
"No Sakura-hag. It was because Yamato-san found this remarkable looking Oak that he just had to-"
Yamato cut him off before he could finish, embarrassed that he had almost said it, and curious at what Sakura had said. His attention was then placed on the pink haired girl. "Storm? What do you mean by 'storm' Sakura?"
Sakura looked up from the ground in surprise at Yamato's strange question, her cute face contorted to express it. "What the hell are you talking about? It was raining hard for almost twelve hours! How could you not have seen it if you were already in the Fire Country? Just look!" She pointed impatiently at the ground. "It's still muddy."
Yamato just scratched his chin in thought. Sai was expressionless. "I have been wondering about that since we arrived here. But Sakura, we're not lying, we didn't see a storm at all yesterday. In fact, the weather around Konoha was impeccable. Not a cloud at all."
Sakura just looked down and muttered to herself. "That was before the storm…"
Yamato sighed in exasperation and took hold of Sakura's shoulders. She didn't move. "Look, Sakura. There…was…no…storm…yesterday. And if this 'storm' was as immense as you say it was then why are the trees and the earth 'outside' Konoha absolutely dry hmmm?"
Sakura's body shook before she violently extricated herself from Yamato's hold. She stomped her foot indignantly causing a small tremor, the villager's near Sakura's home ran in terror. "I don't understand what the hell you're talking about Yamato, but I don't care! Last night was not some joke! It all happened! It was real!" She fell to her knees, tears streaming. She hugged herself tightly. "It was all so real…" She whispered in ragged breaths.
Yamato and Sai stared at the hysterical young Jounin, stunned. They did not know what to say, but they knew it wasn't about the storm anymore. Yamato kneeled down and held her shoulder. Sai just observed, not trusting himself to speak. He never was good at being comforting, though that was an understatement. Yamato shook her lightly, looking very confused, but he wasn't totally clueless. "Sakura, look at me." He said it like a brother.
And so she did. Yamato almost gasped. Her were waterlogged, but they held so much pain and misery in their depths. They also looked very tired, almost like she had been crying quite frequently, something definitely happened.
"Sakura. It's clear that something happened last night, more than this 'storm'. Something horrible…right?" He asked in an uncharacteristically mellow tone.
She nodded meekly, not willing to acknowledge the truth with words.
"Does it concern…" He looks to Sai, then back at the girl. "…us?"
She paused, though not really giving it any thought, of course it concerned them! They adored Naruto! That mission to retrieve Sasuke was not one that would be easily forgotten, or one that would be unable to foster bonds. And so, she nodded, getting more miserable with each head movement.
Yamato let out a breath and Sai was getting impatient. He moved to the next specific question. He hated dealing with overly emotional girls, but since whatever it was concerned them, it must be important. He didn't know how breaking up with a boyfriend would involve them… "Who…or what does this involve Sakura?"
She dreaded that question. Dreaded it with her life. She wanted to just nod but obviously that wouldn't answer anything and would make her look stupid. It had to be done, they needed to know. She closed her eyes but her tears kept flowing, she responded in barely a whisper. "Naruto…"
"The dickless wonder?" Sai suddenly exclaimed. Sakura visibly grimaced at Sai's 'creative' choice of nicknames. As if two years really didn't change anything…
Yamato hadn't heard the exclamation for he was busy in thought. 'Hmmm….Naruto. So that's it. Naruto broke up with her. I didn't even know even know they were together! Nothing worse than breaking up on a rainy night, wait, an IMAGINARY rainy night. I still don't know how that involves us though, maybe she had planned us to Godfather their children…' He outwardly snickered at that thought.
Yamato didn't notice Sakura looking at him with a puzzled and somewhat disgusted expression. Inner Sakura exploded, 'What the fuck is so funny you asshole!' Sai continued to look bored.
Even though Yamato already knew what the problem was, he decided to humor the girl until the end. He had heard that girls liked keeping secrets but just LOVED telling them. So he would give Sakura what she wanted; ask her another personal question! "Sakura…" The girl looked at him with a scared expression, did she not want to tell her secret? "…what did Naruto DO?" And it was out.
Sakura could practically hear Pandora's Box opening. Inner Sakura's voice resounded within her unnaturally large forehead, 'Do! What did he DO! What he DID was that he #&ing KILLED himself you #&tard! Why the #& do you think I'm balling my #&ing eyes out in the middle of the #&ing street over Naruto you insensitive #&ing cur!' Outer Sakura however did not reciprocate inner Sakura's displeasure, who just felt drained and tired of having to dwell upon it once again.
Yamato waited feeling amused. Yes, Yamato did not sympathize when it came to relationships, for he had lost a fair share of his own in the past and it wasn't something to wail about. Sai waited for the sake of waiting, nothing else to occupy his time.
Sakura wait for the world to stop spinning so fast for it was giving her a headache. Sakura had enough of mourning, had enough of remorse, had enough of this goddamn day even if she had only been living it for forty-five minutes! She had enough of Yamato who was looking at her all pleased with her misery! She also had enough of Sai who was just plain weird, acting like he had just hatched from an egg two years ago and was just learning the intricacies of human behavior! And also for calling her ugly and fat for no apparent reason and that he had some kind of obvious fetish for Naruto's penis, or lack thereof as he put it.
She really hated Yamato's smile at that moment, and thankfully, she knew just how to wipe it away. She no longer hesitated in answering his question, willing to conclude this game once and for all. She peered straight into Yamato's eyes with intention of making the man tremble in his boots, with just one word, she unleashed the frightening truth, "Died."
Many seconds ticked by and Yamato just stared, Sai had frozen. Then Yamato narrowed his eyes, asking if that was a joke.
Sakura just exhaled and spoke with a monotonous tone. "He died, Yamato. I would not lie about that."
Yamato's face had fallen instantly when he found no April fool in Sakura's pain filled eyes. His eyes grew wide in horror and stared desperately at Sakura, silently demanding for an explanation. Sakura just shook her head, and made to stand up.
She dusted herself of the mud on her knees and tucked a pink bang behind her ear. Her face was completely blank, devoid of all feeling, perhaps she had simply ran out. "I'm sorry. I…I have to go see Sasuke." She turned to the direction she had been heading before, the Arch of the Uchiha Clan.
Yamato just stared after her, crushing a rock in his fist. Nothing made sense. Nothing made sense at all. The hyperactive, happy go lucky blond was…dead? The boy he would help support to become the Sixth Hokage was gone?
Sai's outer shell didn't not react a bit. Though his physical appearance was mute, his heart was caught in a typhoon of bad emotions. He really didn't know how to go about it. He didn't have the ability to manipulate his own feelings, nor would he know how to act out one them. He eyes had said nothing when his beloved brother perished before him, inspiring him to make art of his sorrows and his joys. He felt like water was boiling him, wait for him to erupt. He did not know how to unleash his pain, so did it in a way that he knew would be completely inappropriate, he laughed.
Yamato stared crestfallen at his friend who was clutching in painful, unhappy laughter. Yamato saw it for what it was, knowing him too well. Sai was like an android programmed for love in a world filled with only hate, he didn't know at all what to do with himself. To others, they would think Sai was insane to laugh so hysterically, and that would be perfectly justified, but Yamato had never seen the man so inconsolable. Not ever.
They barely noticed the Jounin that was running towards them, short of breath.
"Yamato-sama! Sai-sama! Something's happened!"
Yamato just turned and stared wordlessly at the man, while Sai reigned more control over the pain in his gut from all the horrible laughing.
"It's…its Uchiha Sasuke! He's left the village!"
Shizune stood by the window overlooking the village. She smiled when she could see a Jounin run frantically towards the Tower. She motioned to leave the room, but before she did so, she made a series of seals and an exact replica of the Godaime stood before her.
"Take care of it." Shizune said simply with a grin, and left the room, to confront the real Tsunade.
Tsunade stared ruefully at the boy lying on the table before her. She was perched on a metal chair in an empty room, empty except for the cabinets lined with potions and ingredients to concoct any type of medicine possible. It was a Sealed Room, literally, for on the floor was a giant seal that was meant to amplify and increase the speed of chakra flow, meant only for medical purposes.
The body of Uzumaki Naruto lay exactly at the center. Now pale as a sheet for all the time the boy's blood had stopped flowing. There was a blanket covering the waist down, but nothing else was obstructed. Clear was the hole on Naruto's chest in which the kunai had completely destroyed his heart. Said kunai lay in an airtight bag for later analysis.
She peered longingly at her gaki's bloodless face, gliding her fingers delicately over the marks on his cheeks. The boy was perfect. He had always been perfect. She was set on making sure that the village would see that too. There was no one on the Earth better to be the next Hokage than the boy that lay dead in front of her.
"I was going to train you." She said with affection as she cupped his lifeless cheeks. "I was going to train you to become the best Hokage there ever was, everything I am not." She laughed without humor, but continued to look at the boy with loving eyes. "Apparently, I am too incompetent to be a functional Hokage. That Kakashi sure has got a big ass head on his shoulders. But…you've really left me with a complication you stupid brat." She said without anger, as she started to choke in her words. "Who am I going to choose now you moron? It sure as hell won't be that Uchiha! I know you'd strangle me from your grave if I made that choice. There's always that Hyuuga…" She put her finger on her chin in mock contemplation. "Or I can choose Sakura, I'm sure you'd like that. But she'll probably have the same problems as me though, and she has so little determination…" She now leaned her face closer to Naruto's. "The truth is, not one of them is like you gaki, not a single one. They don't have what you have…not one…"And once more, she wept, soaking Naruto's neck with her tears, embracing the dead boy. "Don't worry Naruto. I'll give you the best funeral ever. You won't leave forgotten, I'll make sure…"
She continued to weep, deep in the thoughts of what the boy could have become. Naruto was destined to be greater than the Fourth! Greater than all of them! For Naruto stubbornly loved what so stubbornly hated. Leaders who rise after being brutally ostracized were heroes that did not come every century. Naruto had the drive no one else had, willing to bring happiness to what only brought him sorrow. And he made sure of their everlasting joy by taking his own life.
Tsunade continued to mourn the passing of someone who would have been a legend. She was a Sannin because of her strength, Naruto could have been remembered for so much more.
As the Hokage bemoaned for the dead blond, a certain assistant crept behind her, and grasped the back of her neck.
"Hokage-sama!" Izumo banged on the Hokage's door and slammed it open with hurried force.
"What it is it Izumo, can't you see I'm a little tied right now?" The Hokage's eyes did not leave the notes scattered on her new desk, scribbling things quickly.
"Yes! I know Hokage-sama! But Uchiha Sasuke's ran from the village!" The Jounin exclaimed without preamble.
The Godaime looked deceptively shocked as she looked up from her desk. "What?" She demanded dramatically.
"He broke through the gates Hokage-sama! And he used his chidori wave technique and paralyzed three of our men! Kotetsu dispatched a unit and is pursuing him as we speak!"
"Recall them." The Godaime ordered without another thought.
Izumo was sputtering badly. "B-but H-hokage-sama! T-that's-"
"We will handle this case as an isolated incident Izumo." She interrupted with fearsome authority. "We will be needing all our forces for what's coming. We cannot afford to waste any more manpower chasing that brat again. His case will be handled another time."
Izumo dared to ask. "Hokage-sama, what's-"
"You will find out soon enough. Now you will tell all parties involved to strip this incident from your memories, and once that is taken care of, no one will mention this to me or to anyone else, is that understood?"
He was more than stunned by the Hokage's brash and unorthodox response to the problem, but it was not his place to question. "Y-yes Hokage-sama." He bowed and bid adieu.
Once the Jounin had left the vicinity, she smirked and dispersed in a puff of smoke.
Tsunade almost leaped when a cold hand touched the back of her neck. She turned her head sharply to find Shizune. "Oh." She sighed. "It's only you. When did you become so sneaky Shizune?"
Shizune's hand moved from Tsunade's neck to her scalp, massaging her gently. "I learned from the best." She ended it at that without further explanation. "You look terrible Tsunade, you should rest." Her tone had become a trillion times colder.
"I already told you I'll…wait, what did you ca-"
"Like right now"
Before she could react there was a sharp burning sensation on her scalp and a strange hissing sound…burning! She had lost all the energy in her body when Shizune gripped her head with one hand and threw her to the wall with a resounding crack, thankfully, it wasn't her spine. She struggled to open her eyes and take back her vision. And when she did she attempted to stand up but got nowhere, as her muscles refused to move. She was immobile! Shock and disbelief graced her eyes as she stared at her treacherous assistant. Before she could move her lips to speak, which were one of her only parts that could, Shizune beat her to it, looking smug.
"Now before you ask why you are unable to move and why oh why I did this to you, I'll gladly answer the former, my dear Tsunade-sama!" She squeezed Tsunade's cheek and retracted her hand before she could bite it clean off. "It's simple really." She grinned and placed her hands on her hips. "All I did was place a seal on a certain part of your head and completely shutdown your motor processes, freezing your cells but leaves your chakra unaffected. So you can focus your chakra all you want, all you're doing is killing your stationary cells as chakra passes."
Tsunade growled and stopped what she had been doing. She had indeed attempted to release her chakra and she only felt weaker by doing so without any results. It was a very complicated jutsu, despite how 'simple' she said it was. Not even she had thought of it! Her sempai!
"Now Tsunade, I know by the way you're looking at me that you really want to know how I managed to come up with a jutsu you had never even imagined and used it against you. Well, instead of telling you, I'll show you."
Tsunade blanched, gasping in horror as her pupil began to…peel her face! Then comprehension dawned on her like a speeding bullet train. She could not even sweat for even those processes were shot.
"Oro…chimaru!"
Sakura finally found herself at the doorstep of Sasuke's manor, to find the door wide open. Sakura reasoned that since nobody leaves doors open going in, then Sasuke must have went out, in a mad hurry. Believing her reasoning to be infallible, she entered anyway. Years ago she would have only went in Sasuke's home as a stalker, now, she entered as a friend. A caring who didn't even want to imagine how he must be taking things. He loved Naruto dearly…
She motioned her body through the chillingly lonely rooms and could practically smell the human effluence seeping from the walls, it was overbearing, how could anyone live here alone? She gasped her hands to her mouth when she spotted the faint blotches blood on the hardwood floor. Just recently Sasuke had confided to her and Naruto his grisly experience during the Uchiha massacre with ghastly detail. If she could find him she would hammer Itachi's face right through his asshole for making Sasuke suffer so much and so pointlessly.
The rooms were absolutely impeccable. Everything was in order like a mother stilled lived there. Sasuke was indeed obsessive compulsive, but she understood that he wanted to keep his departed parents' home as perfect as possible.
She was then sure that he wasn't home, for she couldn't sense his chakra at all. But where else would he go?
Before she climbed up the stairs, she decided to try anyway. "Sasuke? Are you home?" Her voice echoed through the barren estate, no response. She sighed and meant to go up the stairs.
When running footsteps dashed across the floor above her and she heard a door being slammed open.
"What the…"
She cut herself off and raced up the stairs entering the only door that was open. She could only glance briefly as, something, smashed through the window. She didn't have enough time to grab whatever it was as it escaped. She leaned out the hole in the wall and saw nothing stir in the eerie afternoon. She expanded her chakra range and absolutely nothing triggered her superhuman senses. Either whatever it was dead or just didn't have any chakra. She refused to pick either for both were absurd! Even toads had chakra!
"What the hell was that?" She gasped out. She turned her head to the desk in the room.
Though it seemed out of place, on it laid a silver snake.
Orochimaru was then exposed in all his demented glory, black hair flowing down his robes, monstrous tongue wiggling, licking up his face and into the reptilian slits that were his eyes.
Tsunade did not utter a word, too speechless to formulate any response. The seal was even slowing down her mental processes, she felt like a cow with a hangover. She fought against the shadows looming before her vision, and tried to pin her attention to the evil that stood before her. Whatever battle Orochimaru had waged against her, she had already lost. After all, the snake had managed to put the Hokage in a paralyzed after successfully infiltrating Konoha and had spied on their ranks, the village was doomed.
The beast mooned her with a toothy grin, looking elated. He knew victory was his. "Why Tsunade, you don't look happy to see me. You don't want to give Orochi-kun a hug?"
"Fuck off Orochimaru." She bit back with an effort.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Your still unable to grasp the situation Tsunade. I have the leader of the village of Konoha immobile in a sealed room, whom I could kill if ever I want." He said the last with a lick of his purple tongue.
"So…why don't you…then?" She was indeed curious, if his goal was to assassinate the Hokage, then he would do so. But somehow, she knew that things were not so simple"
"Oh no Tsunade. I would not spare you for what is to happen after I leave this room. After all, the people need a leader to blame, and they can't have that if you're dead. And besides, the emotional strife we will put you through is a fate worse than death." He hissed.
"We…you mean…you're not…" She tried to express, panic and fear building within her. Orochimaru was capable of many things, but how much worse if he wasn't alone.
"Yes, I have allies. Well actually, I'm THEIR ally. They asked for my help. I'm here to assist, but I get a hefty reward…in Uchiha Sasuke." He hissed in joy at the name.
Tsunade tried to scream in outrage, "Uchiha! He'd never-"
"On contraire Tsunade-chan, he is headed towards my lair as we speak. And there is nothing than can be done about that for I had YOU call off the search." Orochimaru couldn't seem more conceited if he tried.
Tsunade was at a loss for words as it felt like the world was falling around her. She was about to submit to the darkness when Orochimaru approached Naruto's dead body, cupping a cheek.
"Hmmm…he's such a beautiful boy. I never thought he would turn out so delectable. And so powerful…even without the Kyubii's chakra this boy would still be strong enough to match me." He turned to his captive. "Right…Tsunade?"
Then a revelation slapped her in the face, as white hot anger seeped from every pore of her lifeless body. She had to stay awake if only to hear the truth from the most hated man in the known world. "Did you…did you…kill Naruto!"
Orochimaru mocked surprised at the accusation, and then made another spine-tingling grin. "No Tsunade, I didn't. But you know maybe no one did…"
Tsunade's eyes bulged at the mysterious remark. What did Orochimaru mean by that? If he was truthful, she knew it could only mean one thing, that someway, somehow, her gaki was still alive. But the Orochimaru continued.
"For you see…" Orochimaru moved away from the body so she could see its entirety. Then he declared to the heavens. "…this is not Uzumaki Naruto!"
A tiny press to the corpse's exposed abdomen was met by another horror, as the white light faded entirely, it revealed…
"SHIZUNE!" Tsunade let out a pained scream that was for once not muffled by the seal on her scalp, as she gazed at the dead body of her assistant on the table. "Why! Why you sonuvabitch! WHY!" She wanted to cry so badly, but she couldn't. She felt so weak, was there no one she could protect!
Orochimaru only took pleasure in her ex-teammate's misery. "Well, simply because we needed a corpse, and I needed to substitute. Killing two birds with one stone as they say."
She was breathing heavily, new waves of sorrow and anger shook her badly. "So…the Grass…it was…"
"Uhmm. Very perceptive of you Tsunade-chan. Although, there was indeed a family with an illness, even if it was I who brought the illness and I who manipulated them into sending a request for a Konoha Jounin with supreme medical capabilities. It was either Shizune or that Sakura girl, either way would have been fine, and as you know," He looked at Shizune amusedly, "You chose her."
Tsunade wanted to scream some more but no longer could as her mouth slackened like a rusty hinge. Her consciously was leaving her quickly.
"Well, I see you will be leaving us in a second so I guess I should wrap things ne?" He repressed the spot on the abdomen of the corpse and it was Naruto that had returned. He swiped at his own face and Shizune came back as well, voice and all. Orochimaru added as an afterthought, "Oh yeah, before I forget, Tsunade-sama, once the seal reaches climax, which will be in ten seconds, you will lose all memory of everything that you had learned after I sealed you. I did this only to torment you, Tsunade, and boy was it fun." She walked to the door and before she exited, turned to Tsunade with a devilish smile. "You better prepare yourself before you awake Tsunade, it wont be pretty."
The Godaime just stared as the devil made to leave the room. She only heard the heavy slam of a metal door before darkness consumed her.
(1)Yamato first appears in the Grass Country Arc in the manga if you don't know him. His specialty is plant manipulation and he has yet to appear in the anime.
(2)Sai also appears in the Grass Country Arc who comes off as an emotionally challenged freak who keeps bugging Naruto about his lack of a penis (Gay much). He brings his art to life, probably the least realistic ninja ability I have ever seen. And of course, no anime.