Author's Note: Happy New Years! I realize that it has been a LONG time since I have updated this story. The school year has been an absolute killer. Not to mention that I am also working on my master's degree and taking a ton of classes this summer.
In regards to this chapter, I ended up running out of time and decided to cut it in half due to the coherency of the story and the length. I wanted to give Satou and Isao a bit of a wrap up that does the story justice. However, the good news is that the second half will take less time to be posted. I will definitely be trying to work on this story because I have a LOT planned for it and it's only just getting to the good parts (one coming up next chapter.) For my patient readers, this will be good news to you. For those who aren't patient, hoping you'll stick around to read
Also, next to Naruto, reading and writing are my passions and my New Year's resolution is to encourage more people to read. I created an Instagram account called read_with_rich where I will be posting about high-interest books in order to encourage non-readers to read by using the social media platform that can introduce people to books without them going to libraries or book stores (which they won't if they don't already read.) Give me a follow if you are interested!
Pairing: SasuSaku
Chapter 26: Monsters
There was a sharp mix of pungent smells permeating the air around them as Sasuke looked over Sakura's shoulder at a particular herbalist book. His friend was sitting at a table in the center of the greenhouse, flipping through the Sunagakure plant log, scratching down a list of all the ingredients she would need to create the military ration pills.
When Sasuke commented on the smell, Sakura replied with "You get used to it." And then she went into a detailed explanation of why plants even created all sorts of different smells-why many flowers had sweet aromas, but other plants had fouler scents. Sakura elaborated that it all had something to do with procreation. Something about bugs being attracted to them in order to spread pollination. She even went into the genetic purposes of tastes in plants. Sasuke listened with genuine interest at the wide variety of facts that she possessed.
Sasuke turned and leaned against the table as she spoke, tucking in his chin to his chest and closing his eyes. When he was sure she was distracted, Sasuke peeked at her between the lashes of his right eye. He noticed that her brow was furrowed as she searched for the plant she had written down. After a few minutes of this, she began to tap the end of the pen against her bottom lip, a subconscious behavior many people did while thinking. Sasuke couldn't help but realize that he hadn't paid much attention to anyone's small habitual behaviors in the past few years except for in battle scenarios. To watch the cogs spinning in Sakura's mind, had Sasuke feeling like he had missed out on much in the last several years.
After another few seconds, Sakura explained her concern: "I'm going to have to find a substitute plant for the medicinal aspects of the pills. Sunagakure doesn't grow Tikasia in abundance here. The amount that I would need would deplete their entire reserve."
Sasuke considered her word for a few seconds before his eyes narrowed a fraction when the door of the greenhouse opened. A white-coated man with sandy colored hair beamed hugely and raised his hand in greeting as he entered. "There you are, Sakura-san. I've been looking for you!"
Sakura broke from her deep concentration and turned from the table as she picked up on the calling. Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly at the familiar tone the young man used. This must be a staff member from the hospital, a colleague that was working closely with Sakura while she was here. His presumption was confirmed when Sakura returned both the smile and call.
"Sorry Mako! Hope you haven't been looking for too long."
Mako? What- are they on a first name basis or something? Sasuke pondered with a frown of disapproval.Sakura barely knew him, or at least, that's what Sasuke thought. At least Mako had the decency to add the proper honorific to her name. Not that Sasuke could be the one to lecture on the topic.
The young physician made his way over to them and immediately offered a respectful bow to the both of them. Sasuke was never very good at returning these customs of respect, but after a minute of awkward staring, the Uchiha nodded his acknowledgement in a very uncaring sort of way. After bowing, the medic immediately turned to Sakura and glanced at her work on the table.
"Are you creating another medicine?" Mako asked, crossing his hands behind him in consideration, boldly reading the list she had compiled next to the herbal catalog.
Seeing her co-medic's interest, Sakura picked it up and handed it to him while simultaneously pushing the book in his direction, an invitation for his opinion.
"You're just the person I need right now actually." She explained to Mako how she was creating a batch of military ration pills, a notion at which the male medic's facial expression turned to one of surprise. Sasuke understood his disbelief; not many people knew how to make such a desired sustenance that tipped the scale in favor of those who consumed it in battle. When bringing up the topic of the ingredients she needed, he raised his thumb and forefinger to his chin, pinching it in contemplation.
Sasuke stiffened slightly when the young man pulled up a seat to sit beside her, pulling the book closer so they could both look at it together. "What about Ashuwa?" he offered, flipping to a plant towards the front of the book. Sasuke peeked over towards the illustration and noticed a shrubby little plant with bright yellow flowers.
"Ashuwa?" Sakura questioned, frowning down at the picture. "That belongs to the nightshade family, doesn't it?"
"Yes," he informed, "but it's not fatal like many of its other relatives. It's actually quite safe to consume unless the patient has some sort of allergic reaction to it."
"That's interesting. I'm not very familiar with it. What are its properties?"
"It's a little stronger than Tikasia but more acclimated to our desert climate, so we have plenty of it here. Its primary effect is a boost in brain function. However, we have observed an increase in energy and muscle mass along with it. Some ninja even claim that after consuming it, it relieves them of stress."
"All that?" Sakura pondered, dropping her jaw.
Sasuke raised an inquisitive brow as well. With benefits like that, it was a wonder they didn't add it to every meal here. There had to be missing information obviously…
Sakura must have been thinking the same thing Sasuke had, because she immediately responded with. "What are the negative effects?"
Mako smiled at her insight. "Just like Tikasia, you crash and suffer chakra depletion as a result. You have to take far less of it than Tikasia. Like I said earlier, many people have severe allergic reactions to the plant which is why we don't use it often."
Sasuke couldn't help but frown at the pair of doctors who discussed plants so casually with one another. Mako had a sort of charisma about him, and Sasuke could tell why Sakura would rely on him while she was here. The young man's temperament sort of reminded Sasuke of their old schoolteacher, Iruka-sensei. However, Mako's knowledge was so thorough that he almost reminded Sasuke of Kabuto; Sasuke had witnessed many in-depth medical conversations between Orochimaru and he.
Still leaning against the table, Sasuke closed his eyes, adopting an uninterested guise to go with the frown. Seeing them together, discussing their common interests, reminded Sasuke of something despite his epiphany last night. Watching her familiarity with this person reminded Sasuke that just because he had finally admitted to himself that loved her, didn't mean that he should do anything about it. Sakura had told him firmly that she would only ever choose him and to not assume that if he left her alone, she would fall in love with someone else. Sasuke truly believed his female teammate about this. But seeing her cheerfully interact with Mako made Sasuke want to believe otherwise. Even though it stung him to think about Sakura loving someone else and another man being a part of her daily life, waking up beside her and hearing a confession from her lips, Sasuke knew it was what she deserved. He could never be that sort of man for her, especially not in the near future.
But now that Sasuke was certain of his feelings, would he be able to only ever be a close friend to her? Would he be able to watch someone else come into her life and become the person Sakura swooned over and built a family with? He would, Sasuke told himself. He had to. Sasuke had already chosen in his heart to be the Itachi of this time and make the sacrifice for the greater good so that his loved ones like Sakura even had a future. He had to keep reminding himself of this.
Without meaning to, he let a low exhale of self-defeat escape his mouth. Realizing he had done so, Sasuke quickly glanced to his right to make sure no one noticed. Sakura, who Sasuke now noticed had stopped what she was doing, was now watching him despite the fact that Mako was still flipping through the book and explaining something to her.
His kunoichi teammate locked gazes with him, furrowed her eyebrows, and tilted her head in silent question. Sasuke broke their eye-contact immediately and Sakura returned her attention to Mako. It's for the best, he thought to her.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mako lead Sakura across the greenhouse to the white-labeled bushel of Ashu that he had spoken to her about. She measured out the amount she would need and began cutting it carefully with his assistance. Sakura had been surprised at this substitute that Mako had offered with certainty at its effectiveness. She pinched a sizable piece of it and placed it on her tongue and began to chew. With it being a nightshade after all, she wanted to be certain that it wasn't toxic. Nightshades were highly cultivated by humans and most were safe to consume like Mako said, but since she had never heard of this plant and it was unfamiliar to her, she wanted to double-check Mako's claim. Besides, he said it could cause allergic reactions.
Just so Mako's feelings wouldn't be hurt by her taste-testing, Sakura simply announced, "This actually tastes quite yummy. Much better than the bitter Tikasia." Then she called out loud enough for Sasuke—who had been casually leaning against the table since their arrival—to hear, "You're in luck, Sasuke. Maybe these pills won't taste like 'mudballs' this time like Sai famously calls them."
Sasuke peeked open his right eye at her, clearly not grasping a word of what she was referencing. Mako, on the other hand, laughed at her statement.
"Tikasia is rather bitter. Is Sai a friend back home? Your friend really called them 'mudballs' to your face?" Mako laughed.
Sakura chuckled to herself a bit, returning her full attention to Mako. "Sai is a sort of special friend. He's brutally honest; always has been."
"Sometimes we need friends like that," Mako said reassuringly, helping her pluck the stems and flowers of the plant and wrapping it up in paper.
Sakura nodded in agreement and instantly recalled many of her friends back home and a sort of homesickness radiated in her chest at the thought of them. She wondered how all of them were doing. She also thought of the hospital and Lady Tsunade in that moment too, and made a mental note to write a letter to check in on them.
She glanced up at Sasuke for the twentieth time that day, and her homesickness disappeared. When he was absent, she was always sick with longing for him. It suddenly surprised Sakura that she had never felt more at home than when she was with this man. She had confessed this to him before, but when he was gone, it felt as if she was alone. Sakura would fall asleep with thoughts of him and miss him just as much the following morning. That feeling had disappeared on her journey and this was the first time the kunoichi had missed someone else since she had picked up her bag and followed Sasuke down the cobbled street that night a few weeks ago.
Mako's statement returned her to the present moment from her thoughts. "Isao slept well last night. After you left with Gaara, he was distraught and restless after what happened. We ended up giving him your dosage of the sleeping medicine and he didn't experience any sleep terrors."
"That's terrific!" she exclaimed, almost jumping for joy in her excitement. This was exciting news. If they could eliminate the terrors, then Isao would be okay. Maybe he could stop taking the medicine once his body adjusted.
"Satou, his father, however," Mako began as they made their way back towards the center table towards Sasuke. "Well—he's a bit hysterical in the hospital. The man definitely needs to be there, but we are not quite sure what to do for him. He's actually the reason I came looking for you. I figure you might be the only one able to talk to him."
Sakura nodded as they came to a stop and she set her items down. "I see."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sasuke had been thoroughly pissed when Sakura had announced to him her plans and handed him the bundle of paper-wrapped yellow flowers. "Will you grind these up for me while I quickly check-in on a patient? They should be dry enough on their own. We need to mix this in with the rest of our batch as soon as possible."
The Uchiha nodded with a "hm" but had half a mind to shove the flowers and grinder toward Mako since he was inclined to be so damn helpful.
Apparently, she was duty-bound to go see some hospital patient with an attitude problem and Sasuke had guessed easily who it was. After seeing the bruises on her chest last night, it was hard not to think about this patient of hers. It settled like a knife between Sasuke's shoulder blades as he began to pulverize the flowers in the mortar with the stone pestle. He glowered after the two medics as the door to the greenhouse swung to a shut behind them.
Sasuke knew that Sakura was aware of his eagerness to get the pills so he could return to his mission. And because she predicted this, Sasuke knew without a doubt that Sakura had played him. She had given him this little job to keep him occupied for a few minutes because he couldn't put the task off. But what she didn't know was that it certainly wouldn't take him as long as she hoped. Sasuke removed another heap of flowers from the paper and began to smash them forcefully.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sakura had managed to come up with a small plan in the few seconds after Mako had informed her about Satou, Isao's hysterical father, whom Sakura and Gaara had placed under the care of the hospital yesterday. The first and most necessary part of her plan was to keep Sasuke busy and away from her patient. After seeing her teammate's reaction to the small bruises on her chest last night, she didn't want the two ninja to have the least bit of interaction.
The second part was to ensure that Isao was kept far, far away from his father. If the child was showing any progress at all after having distance from him, then Sakura would be damned if Satou meant to screw that up. Trailing closely behind her, Mako confirmed her hope that Isao remained at the mental health children's clinic and was being strictly supervised.
Finally, the last rocky bit of her plan was to try her best to remain calm and civil with Satou despite what she predicted his treatment of her would be. Sakura anticipated every bit of an angry temper and possibly aggression.
Having Mako with her made Sakura feel more reassured. In the back of Sakura's mind, she knew she didn't have anything to worry about because she could rely on her abilities as a ninja, not his, but it was still a comfort to have him with her as a steady, supportive presence.
When they finally reached Satou's hospital room and they entered, Sakura gasped. Apparently, Satou had considered this place a prison cell rather than a patient room. The bed was tipped, and the curtain torn from the rod above the windows. The massive punched out crevices in the walls around them were threatening portraits of warning. Sakura heard Mako echo her surprise. Sensing their presence, Satou turned from the window and glowered at them.
"Glad to see my warden has finally come to see me," the man spat viciously.
While Mako's expression was one of disbelief, Sakura erased the emotion from her own, slipping on a blank pretense. Forget step three of her plan, then. It was obvious what kind of man Satou was. He had no respect or care in the world for anyone and her kindness would be seen as a weakness to bully her for. Pretending to be civil would be an entire waste of her time because Sakura recognized the hate in Satou's eyes, glassy pools that reflected the darkness in his heart. How bitter it made Sakura—to see Sasuke's formal self in one of her patients; how hopeless this conversation would be even though he was the one person who needed it the most.
Sakura believed this man deserved her gentlest persona, but Sakura had tried playing this game before and failed miserably with Sasuke. If Sakura—a former teammate and close friend—couldn't have reached into the depth of Sasuke's darkness and rip him from it, then how could she expect to be successful with an absolute stranger? She thought of Naruto and Gaara and how they might approach this. Adopting Naruto's methods before, Sakura had fought Sasuke to knock some sense into him, but Sakura couldn't just go starting fights with her patients.
Confidence then. Sakura crossed her arms behind her back and raised her chin. "I'm not your warden; just someone who is trying to help you and your son."
He began to laugh—that psychotic pitch that set Sakura's heart racing. It frightened her to see that this man was more lost than she had thought. This wasn't just a man who had taken his anger out on his son. "That's what pisses me off the most about you leaf village filth. You think you have the right to march in and do as you please."
Mako responded before Sakura could silence him, "Be careful what you say. Haruno-san is an honored guest of the Lord Kazekage and he asked for her assistance at the hospital."
Well half true. I did invite myself here I suppose. Sakura didn't correct Mako; Satou was completely prejudiced toward Konoha and its citizens. She reminded herself to steer clear of the political past between their two villages. Satou's next comment brought an immediate halt to Sakura'a analytical approach to reasoning with him.
"You'd think the Kazekage wouldn't give his whores a false sense of entitlement in village they don't belong in."
It was hard to contain her inner voice at that moment, who happened to be screaming loudly. WHO THE HELL DOES THIS BASTARD THINK HE IS?
Sakura let out a calming breath and put hand on Mako's arm who was surprisingly doing a good enough job for the both of them at giving this terrifying ninja a piece of his mind despite the aptitude gap.
Before she could respond, the door opened and someone stepped in. Seeing Sasuke momentarily took her aback because that powder job should have taken him at least 45 minutes to complete, yet here he was a mere 10 minutes after being assigned the task. He must have a question.
And then Sakura saw his face. A red and purple combination flashed towards Satou and Sakura's stomach dropped to her feet. Had he just heard what Satou called her?
When Sakura reached him and placed a hand on his arm, his gaze snapped from Satou and landed on her. "Did you need something?" she asked kindly, assessing the situation and deciding to act casually. Maybe if she came off as unaffected by Satou's comment, then Sasuke wouldn't feel the need to react.
"Here," he responded gruffly after recovering some composure, shoving the mortar she had given him earlier towards the space between them. "You said you needed this quickly didn't you? Go on ahead and make the batch. I'll talk to this guy."
Sakura briefly savored the startled look on Satou's face before turning her body towards Sasuke so she could whisper in private with her teammate. "Sasuke, I don't think that's—"
"It's fine," he softened his murmur to match her whisper. As he said this, his sharingan faded and his emotionless mask slipped back on. "Just a talk between ninja."
"I think it's a great idea," came Mako's eager voice behind her, "I'll stay too. You go on ahead and make that batch before time runs out."
Sakura snapped her head towards him, shaking her head with large eyes in silent begging, but Sasuke was the one who spoke. "I didn't ask you to stay. You can leave too."
"He stays," Sakura volunteered, to which Sasuke glowered at her for. "A doctor must be present during an exam, after all." This was most definitely not professional, but Sakura had used a "time" excuse to keep Sasuke busy earlier. Mako knew as well as she did that it didn't matter what time the Ashuwa was added to the mixture, and he was using her lie against her. She didn't know her friend of a medic could be manipulative like that. Mako knew she didn't want to tell Sasuke that she had fibbed about it.
Grabbing the mortar, Sakura peered up into the Uchiha's eyes, reconsidering her fear of the two ninja meeting. If Naruto or Gaara weren't here, maybe Sasuke was the next best person to talk to him. Now that he had come back to the light, perhaps Sasuke could reach Satou in a way that Sakura wouldn't be able to. Sometimes people who had experienced trauma would only listen to someone who had shared a similar pain. And it had been proven to her throughout the years that sometimes only monsters could understand monsters.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sasuke waited until Sakura's footsteps receded far enough down the hall before his eyes locked onto Satou for the second time.
"Uchiha. Uchiha Sasuke isn't it?" Satou inquired, daring to speak first. "I never would have guessed I'd ever see your face again after the war."
"Good. You know me." Sasuke announced, fully entering the space and leaning against the right-most wall, just fifteen feet away from Satou in this small room. "Then you're aware of the terrible things that I have done to better men than you." To be honest, Sasuke hated to play the reputation card—in fact, he wanted to get as far from his past as possible, but he needed this bastard to know just exactly what he could still do to someone that pushed him far enough.
He noticed Mako shift excitedly at the left of the entrance. Apparently Mako was hoping for a show. Good, Sasuke thought, he needed to hear this too if the male physician had future plans to stay next to his friend.
Sasuke got straight to it. "The truth is that you're not going to listen to anyone, so this is going to be a waste of time and breath." Sasuke knew because he had been in this exact same frame of mind before.
"So why bother staying?" the man spat, rage leaking from his mouth like saliva from a rabid beast. Sasuke was correct in his analogy. Like Sasuke himself had once been, Satou was nothing more than a creature that there was no hope left for, and it needed to be taken out of this world. That's what Gaara had practically told Naruto to do—take Sasuke out and do the right thing as his friend. It's what Sakura had tried to do and failed.
But Naruto had done the impossible. With memories of his friend in his heart, Sasuke sighed and willed himself to put at least a little bit of effort into this for his friends' benefit.
"For the sake of the woman you just called a whore. I care more about her and her goal than the few minutes I could be doing something more beneficial than talking to you." Of course, he would never tell her that.
Sasuke felt like there was no point in beating around the bush. His voice would give out if he continued talking at this rate. He reminded himself that he didn't owe any explanation, any psychological nonsense, just the cold truth that Satou needed to hear. Despite how hard he might try, Sasuke wouldn't be able to pull this off like Naruto. Naruto would have marched up to him like a bull, grabbed his collar, proceed to threaten him for saying such a thing to Sakura, and then somehow miraculously convince this man to change.
Sasuke on the other hand, was less predictable. Depending on which part of his life you looked at, Sasuke could have had several reactions to Satou's comment. The Sasuke before Orochimaru would have been angry but level-headed, at most offering the man an analytical glare. Sasuke immediately post-cursemark would have gutted him in the same mania he had broken that sound ninja's arms in the Forest of Death. Vengeance-bent Sasuke would have completely not cared at all. But the Sasuke he was now? Even though he was on his path of redemption now, something in him had become honed again, sharpened along with the internal acknowledgement that he had feelings for Sakura. Despite his accepting of the truth, Sasuke hadn't anticipated feeling this defensive and this is what scared Sasuke the most about himself—his unpredictability.
When Sasuke had tried to sever his bonds, it was to eliminate the feelings that came with them. He had seen it as a weakness. If his attachments were few, then Sasuke could remain loyal to a way of life he hoped for, one of peace. But having Sakura near again and feeling responsible for her had Sasuke fearing for the worst about his character. He had relayed this concern to Naruto before he left the village several weeks ago. "What will keep me from the darkness? From choosing the path of revenge?" "I will," Naruto had responded. "I'll stop you." If men like this were regular in Sakura's life, how could Naruto guarantee that Sasuke wouldn't snap one day and kill every single person who threatened to do her harm? What if one of them succeeded? Could Naruto prevent everything? Stop, Sasuke told himself. Stop thinking like that.
Satou didn't laugh again for the entire conversation. He remained standing by the window, narrowing his eyes at Sasuke in wary consideration since the Uchiha had arrived—not scared necessarily, but an enemy weighing his odds and deciding to avoid major triggers. Smart, Sasuke thought. Not completely brain dead then.
As Sasuke was consumed in silent thought, Mako stepped in for him. It was the first time all day Sasuke liked the medic. "We know that your wife died. Is that the reason you are abusing your son?"
Unlike with Sasuke, Satou revealed his temper, like a bomb going off without warning. "WHAT I DO WITH MY SON IS NOBODY'S DAMN BUSINESS BUT MY OWN."
Unaffected by the sudden rise in volume, Sasuke surveyed the damaged room around them. Satou sure made it look like he was being held against his will, but the truth was, Sasuke realized, that if Satou had truly wanted to leave, he would have. There was nobody physically stopping him from leaving. The only thing really holding him here was Gaara's command. Ah, so that was it. Badmouth the Kazekage all he wanted, Satou still respected one thing and that was power.
Sasuke tested the theory with, "The Kazekage believes it is his business."
"Everything is apparently his damn business," Satou growled in his direction.
Sasuke immediately noted that this was not a shouted response like he did when Mako spoke. Sasuke deduced that Satou held enough respect for the people he feared. That included himself. Damn. How annoying; Sasuke was going to have to do all the talking after all. To be honest, Sasuke had just wanted to remove Sakura from the situation and came up with the "talking" part to get Sakura to leave. Now, he supposed he would have to deliver.
Mako tried reasoning with him again: "Does the child remind you of your wife? Is that the reason you mistreat him?"
Satou's eyes grew wide at Mako's question. "HOW DARE YOU-"
Forget it. Talking like this was getting them nowhere. Sasuke's visual prowess was nowhere near restored, but what Sasuke planned to do wouldn't take up much chakra anyway. This wasn't his typical style, but trying to talk with this man sure as hell wasn't his style either. Sasuke revealed the black tomoes of his right Sharingan, instantly immobilizing the man where he stood.
"What are you doing?" Mako asked with concern, walking up beside him. "You're not going to use a genjutsu?!"
"Just shut up and stay out of it," Sasuke announced in annoyance. "I am getting the answers."
Satou's mind was a black, fiery wasteland that Sasuke stepped out on. The ninja's memories appeared before him like colorless corpses rising from the grave. Sasuke walked forward toward the past surveying memories in order from most recent to oldest. The first memory that shaped in the air before him had Sasuke considering deactivating the jutsu. Whether he had subconsciously looking for this memory or not, Sasuke didn't know, but he watched it play out before him. His pink-haired teammate was standing her ground, glaring up into the face of the man whose memories Sasuke violated. Sasuke frowned in hatred at the image of his fingers jabbing into her chest. Satou was looking down at her with a ferocity that he had yet to display towards anyone else. Why?
On cue, another memory emerged, connected to this one and providing Sasuke with the answer he wanted. It was during the war and Satou was immobilized on a cot, bandaged and regaining consciousness. Pink hair came into the ninja's vision as he tried to roll to the side. "Miss," he called toward the female ninja. "Where am I?"
"Stay still," Sakura ordered him, pushing him back down on the cot. "Your leg is severely injured and needs to remain immobile." She began giving orders to her assistants when a boom suddenly sounded somewhere nearby. Satou watched as she got to her feet and headed in that direction as someone began screaming her name.
"My wife," he croaked, trying again to rise. This time, no one stopped him as he began to fumble towards the line of patients, some unconscious, others screaming. "Rina," he sobbed, searching the faces of the incapacitated. "Where are you?"
He finally found her in the back row and he began limping faster toward her. "Rina!" he screamed, falling to his knees beside the woman who was bloody almost beyond recognition. Sasuke looked away from the memory as Satou began searching with hands for the wound on her body. Somehow the woman had reopened her injury and was now bleeding through the bandaging. When Satou found it, he began to moan. Satou clutched onto his broken wife and lifted her despite his leg. He was barely able to support her as he began limping back toward the medical professionals. "Haruno!" he tried to shout after the woman who had disappeared in the rising clouds of debris and dust. "Haruno!"
When a medic finally arrived to assist him, it wasn't the one Satou had hoped for. "Please," he begged them. "She's dying—bleeding out!"
Sasuke saw the man's world shatter on his face when the medic began to shake his head after checking the woman's pulse. "I am sorry sir. She's already gone."
"No!" he began to scream, picking up his wife again and limping after the woman he believed could still save her. The memory ended after Satou disappeared into the rubble screaming after someone he clearly never found.
So that was it, Sasuke realized, stepping toward a new memory that materialized in the swirling darkness. He blamed Sakura for his wife's death.
The next memory Sasuke played was Satou returning from the war and staring into the face of the child he and his wife had left behind. Sasuke was shocked at the resemblance the child held of Rina; Sasuke witnessed Satou experience the blow of pain that came at seeing the same likeness. When the child reached for him with tears in his eyes, Satou turned away from him, covering his anguished face and stepping past the threshold. Isao's current caretaker reached for him to relieve his father's neglect.
Sasuke felt like he had ashes in his mouth. He was more familiar with grief than anyone, but grief affected people in different ways. Sasuke both understood and didn't understand. He didn't dare go further; Sasuke knew what happened next concerning the child and didn't want to see it for himself.
Deactivating his Sharingan, Sasuke withdrew from the black backdrop of Satou's mind.
"What did you just do?" Satou asked, sinking to the floor on his knees and holding his head, an aftereffect that had Mako looking between the two ninja in fearful concern.
Sasuke saw no point in explaining to either of them. Satou was more than aware of what just happened. "I could erase a couple of those memories," Sasuke explained to the whimpering man on the floor who gazed up at him in anger. "Is that what you want?"
Satou hesitated before saying, "You could really do that?"
"Is that what you really want?" Sasuke asked bitterly, "for someone to reach into your mind and take away all memory of your wife or child? To dishonor the both of them?"
"No," Satou declared at that. "Not if it will remove them from my memory. The pain— just take that away."
"Pain is a part of life and not something I can tamper with," Sasuke deadpanned. "If you let it, your pain will turn into darkness, consume you, and taint every aspect of your life. Your son is the only thing you have left of your wife. You should value that and cling to that as your light."
Sasuke understood what Sakura meant earlier when she told Sasuke her conversation with Gaara about the past generation affecting the next with their toxicity. Satou didn't repond and Sasuke didn't say anything else. He had said what he needed to although it left the Uchiha feeling like a hypocrite.
Turning to Mako, Sasuke declared, "Send the son to the Leaf's mental health clinic; get him as far away as you can. The child needs to be in a different environment, or he will turn out like father. It'll give Satou some time to reconsider what's important to him."
Opening the door, Sasuke thought twice before exiting. "Also," he remarked to the man who began to sob on the ground. "The next time you lay your hands on my friend, you'll have me to deal with, not the Kazekage."
Satou began to scream in anger, throwing things against the walls again. The door swung shut behind Sasuke and Mako, closing the prisoner in his self-made cell.