Chapter Eleven
Loyalty versus Love
Tears blurred her eyes as she walked swiftly away. How could one decision have affected the world so much? Sasuke's face kept flashing before her eyes. He was broken. He wasn't whole. She would never be able to fix it. She would never be able to fix them.
Team Seven.
She went into the medical field not only to become of some use to her team, but because she wanted to heal people. She wanted to heal her team.
Sakura wanted to heal herself, because she was just as broken as they were.
Itachi's reasons were a slap on the face. A wake-up call. He knew what Sasuke would have become, and he was probably well aware that there would be no fixing him once all was said and done. She had been working in vain. They were all going to fall apart and drift away from each other. Sakura wiped her face with the back of her hand.
Stick a fork in them because Team Seven was done.
A choked sob escaped from Sakura at the thought.
Unfortunately for her, he found her just as she started to sob.
"Haruno," he said softly, catching her attention. He watched, slightly fascinated as her tears dried instantly. She was composed, and her eyes were layered in frost. It was as if the tears that he had seen were an illusion. If it wasn't for the telltale tearstains, he would have sworn he had imagined it all.
"I want to be alone."
"That may be…but is that what is best?" He walked forward slowly, and stood at her side in silence.
Waiting.
Did she really want to be alone? Lost with her thoughts of what should have been? Or did she want to go home with this man that happened to be different from any other man that she had encountered? The man who had saved her country.
Or rather, his country.
"Maybe not," she finally answered. "Let's go home."
He immediately began walking away, and she trailed noiselessly behind him. Her thoughts centered around him…
What could she call him? He wasn't her fiancé. He wasn't her lover. She wouldn't be so bold as to call him a friend. He was—
She needed to go home. Each minute, each second she stayed in this strange world, she found that she didn't want to leave. Life was simpler here. The only complication was Kakashi—and she could overcome that. She'd break down whatever walls he had put up, even if she had to use her freakish strength to do it. She'd get her friend back. Of that, she had no doubt.
Of course, there was also Itachi.
Sakura glanced up at his stoic face as he walked at her side back to their home. He was so much more than what she had expected. He was still a jerk—but then again, Sasuke was a jerk and she loved him unconditionally. There was also a whole different Sakura who had found something in this man to love.
Love.
Is that what she wanted to do? Love Uchiha Itachi?
"What is it?" he asked quietly.
Sakura jumped, startled. "What?"
"You've been glancing 'covertly' at me since we started walking home. Tell me what's on your mind."
He was very observant. Sakura had briefly forgotten that this was Uchiha Itachi here. He noticed everything.
"You are not what I expected," Sakura said briefly, fidgeting slightly.
"What did you expect?"
"A cold-hearted bastard."
"And who says I'm not?" he inquired, brow rising slightly.
"…I do." He couldn't be cold-hearted. This man obviously had so much love in him. For his brother, his family, his village...his fiancé.
Sakura frowned at the thought. He was engaged to someone else. Sure, it was another her...but it wasn't her. She wasn't the woman he was in love with. She would do well to remember that.
"Hn."
It took Sakura a moment to realize that he was talking to her as if he knew that she wasn't…
"You know I'm not her." It wasn't a question. Just a simple fact, letting her know the jig was up.
"I do."
The barrage of questions that she expected to come after her statement never came. A gentle silence greeted her. It stretched into an eternity that Sakura soon found unbearable.
"Don't you want an explanation?"
"Perhaps."
"It's either yes or no. There is no perhaps."
"Everything is not black and white, Haruno."
"Everything would be simpler if it was."
"Maybe—but it would be so much harder. Don't you think that gray allows us more latitude? More room to maneuver life the way we wish it?"
"Is that what the Uchiha massacre was to you? A gray situation?"
"The Uchiha rebellion was a black and white situation that I pushed into gray in order to make a solution."
Sakura nodded her head thoughtfully, fascinated by the way his mind worked. "Do you mind that she's gone?" Her mind once again wandered to his fiancé. He said nothing of her abrupt change in topic. He followed along with it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"The two of you are certainly different."
Sakura frowned. "That's no answer."
"You're right. It isn't."
"If you knew, then why did you—? Stop trying to throw me off track. Do you mind that she's gone?"
"I loved her. I wanted to marry her...but her heart lay elsewhere."
"You're still not answering my question."
"Maybe that's because I don't have an answer yet," he replied quietly, not willing to give her the truth.
No, he was not upset at all. Not even a little.
Sakura stopped walking, and he followed suit. He turned his head over his shoulder and looked back at her questioningly—only to see a small dog-nin in her arms. It looked like one of Hatake's hounds.
"Sakura, Kakashi sent me with a message," the little mutt stated. It glanced his way, but immediately dismissed him as if he was of no importance.
Sakura frowned at the dog. "Why didn't he just come himself?"
"Not that Kakashi."
Itachi watched as her eyes grew large. She began to tremble slightly. "Where is it?" The small dog turned his head, looking behind him. It was then that she saw the scroll attached to his back. She sat Pakkun down and removed the scroll, her eyes scanning it quickly. Her face paled.
"Oh no, no, no. This is bad. This is really bad." She made a move to dash off, but Itachi grabbed her before she could run.
"Tell me what's going on."
The panic in her eyes only seemed to intensify. "I have to go home. I have to go home. I have to go home." She repeated the litany like a broken record.
"Sakura," Itachi said firmly. "Relax. We're almost there."
Sakura shook her head wildly.
"You know as well as I do that my place is not here. I have to go home," Sakura said, clarifying her statement. And with that, she broke away from him, scooped up the dog-nin, and ran off. He had every intention of following—but he noticed then that the scroll had slipped out of her hand.
He lifted it up and began scanning the contents.
Sakura,
I need you to write down everything you know about how you got there. There's no time left and we need to get you home fast.
Sasuke has discovered the switch and he intends to come there. I don't know what he intends to accomplish but you and I both know that his place is here with us, as is yours. He will not relent to this. You know how single-minded he is.
I'm sorry this couldn't be better news, but Naruto and I are going to need you here. Damage control is going to be a bitch.
Kakashi
Itachi frowned at the contents of the letter, the gist of the letter clear. They intended to switch back. She was going to go home because there was some sort of trouble brewing. It had to do with his brother. His mind began to work fast and furiously. He wasn't ready for her to leave. No.
He didn't want her to leave at all.
Uchiha Itachi was certain of one thing. This woman belonged with him—even if he couldn't admit it out loud. He had made a grievous mistake with the other Sakura. He had assumed that she had no feelings for the Copy Ninja.
Why would she wait that long to go after what she wanted? Surely, that was indication of disinterest.
He was wrong. He hated to admit it, but he was. That Haruno Sakura had not been the one for him. She was not his match in any way. She wasn't a compliment to him.
However, this new Sakura...she was an entirely different entity. She was passion and loyalty personified. He had never imagined that a woman could be so soft, yet hard at the same time. She would not allow herself to be walked over, nor taken advantage of. She would always do what was best for those around her. She took care of what belonged to her.
She was so much like him in so many ways, it was frightening.
He followed her home and found her sitting behind his desk, attaching what he assumed to be a letter to the back of the dog-nin. It disappeared shortly thereafter. Once the dog had disappeared, she looked up and into his eyes. He gave her a minute to speak first and tell him the situation.
Silence.
It became obvious all too quickly that she had no intention of doing so.
"Tell me what happened where you are from."
He needed to know. At first, he wasn't so sure that it mattered. She was here now. They would build on that. Now, that wasn't going to happen. The haunted look in her eyes as she looked at Hatake's letter seemingly sealed her fate.
"The long and short of it? There was an Uchiha massacre, not a rebellion. Everything is different where I come from. Everything."
Sakura watched him as what she said hit home. His eyes darkened momentarily. She saw that the enormity of the situation was not lost on him. She should have known that would be the case. If anyone in this world could imagine what would happen, if he had made a different decision, then it would be him.
"What happened to Sasuke?"
"He hated you so much and for so long that there was nothing that could stop him from accomplishing his goal—killing you. He didn't find out the truth until after you were dead. Madara told him."
Sakura was watching for it, and she saw Itachi flinch. She made a mental note to ask him about Madara here, but then immediately dismissed the idea. It wasn't like she'd be staying.
"He planned on destroying the village. Naruto and I...we caught up to him before he could make his plans a reality. By then, he had already done so much…" Sakura shook her head, refusing to think of the ones that Sasuke had killed in order to obtain his revenge. "We caught up to him. He revealed to us everything that he had found out. He told us that he would not allow us to stand in the way of destroying the people that had caused the death of his family. To him, the whole village needed to be purged. Us included. Naruto and Sasuke fought. They fought long and hard. Eventually, Naruto lost control of the Kyuubi. He was too determined to bring Sasuke back. He would have sacrificed anything—everything, for us just to be together in the end. Sasuke was his brother—the only family Naruto had, except for me and Kakashi-sensei. He would never leave Sasuke to wander in darkness alone, even if he ended up joining him in that darkness. In the end, Sasuke and I had to join forces in order to bring Naruto under control. We all almost died that day."
Sakura gave him a brief, nostalgic smile. "Do you know how we calmed him down?" Itachi shook him head briefly. "Sasuke said he'd come home. I think a few more words were exchanged between the two of them, but I was too out of it at the time to find out what they were. Sometimes I wonder if Naruto had really lost control that day or if it was just an act just to get Sasuke to come home. Anyway, we all made a vow. Sasuke vowed to come home, and in return, we would assist him in showing the village the corruption of the village elders. Naruto vowed to become Hokage. He always makes that vow, but this time, he made it in order to assure Sasuke that things would change. He gave his word, and that's not something that Naruto takes lightly. Sasuke knows that. I vowed that I would be everything that Naruto, Sasuke, and even Kakashi-sensei needed me to be. We would both stand at Naruto's side to make sure that what happened to the Uchiha clan never happened again. Not as along as we were alive. We would instill in future generations the importance of caring for the needs of all citizens of Konoha. And then the Uchiha clan would be revived."
Sakura looked away from his intense gaze then. He was staring at her, into her soul, and she didn't want him to see too much. She didn't want to be examined by his eyes because for some reason, even though she knew it wasn't possible, it seemed as if he knew her. As if he understood everything she intended to do.
"The Uchiha clan would be revived…" Itachi began. "Through you."
"If that is what Sasuke wants then, yes." Sakura nodded her head in confirmation.
"What about you? What do you want?"
"Me? I just want us all to be happy."
"Do you think that in the end that you would be happy?"
Sakura hesitated. She was happy. At least she was happier than she'd been in along time.
Wait.
She thought about that statement. Yes, she was happier...but could that be because she was not with her team? She was in this strange world with this man—this man who was staring at her as if he was trying to decipher all of her secrets. She began to wonder at the wisdom of telling him as much as she had.
"Why does it matter to you, anyway? I'll be leaving soon, and you'll have your fiancé back. It's what's best," Sakura said, slightly turning his earlier words back on him.
"Ah, so there you go again with your black and white. Can you not see the gray?"
"What is the gray, Uchiha Itachi? I have to go home. They need me."
"That may be true, but I say that you need me."
Sakura stared at him, flabbergasted. "What?"
"You're too noble for your own good. You'd sacrifice your whole self for your team—"
"They'd do the same for me," Sakura protested.
"But what good would it do you? In the end you'd be miserable, and your unhappiness—"
"I would not be unhappy!" Sakura argued hotly.
But she wondered if she truly believed her words.
"It would eventually leak onto them and cause an innumerable amount of problems. Your initial plans will not solve the problems of your team. You have to change things. You have to shake things up a bit."
Sakura looked at him, trying to decipher his meaning. But she came up with nothing.
"Speak plainly. The cloak and dagger thing doesn't suit you."
His lips twitched upward momentarily, before he became serious once more.
"Sasuke is never going to be happy. I knew that. That's why I made the choice that I did. Sure, your plan to deal with the council is a solid one, but in the end, will that make Sasuke happy? He'll still be alone. You'll try to fill that void that he has, but because you have no feelings for—"
"I love him," Sakura countered—but he ignored her proclamations of adoration.
"Him, you'll never be able to make happy. Yet you are probably the only female that he has a remote attachment to. Naturally, he'd turn to you."
"You don't know anything about us. How dare you presume to know what we need?! I don't need your advice. I'm going home to fix whatever the hell is broken there." His words had a sting of truth that she refused to listen to. He wasn't right. She would not allow herself to be fooled by his words. Wasn't he a master manipulator? It didn't matter what world he was in.
As she had discovered from Naruto, some things remained the same.
Sakura stalked out without another word. Or at least, she attempted to. He blocked her exit.
"You're letting anger and letting emotion cloud your judgment."
Sakura flipped her middle finger in reply and attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to go around him.
"You will listen to me."
"And you will realize that you cannot tell me what to do. I am a person, not some animal that will obey you blindly."
"I do not treat you like you're an animal."
"Prove it to me. Step aside."
Itachi's eyes narrowed on the woman before her. He was constantly bowing to her wishes, yet she refused to give an inch. She was beyond infuriating. He was torn between wanting to wring her neck and wanting to—
His lips swooped down and claimed hers. Surprisingly, there was no resistance on her part. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and molded her body to his. Itachi wrapped his arms around her waist, reveling in her soft body, her sweet fragrance. He explored her mouth slowly, but surely.
Thoroughly.
He pulled back and looked at her swollen, red lips. He gazed at her flushed face as her quickened breathing caused her chest to heave slightly. She stood on her tiptoes in an attempt to steal another kiss—but he wouldn't let her. Not before he said what he needed to say.
"Stay here…with me."
He watched as her passion-induced haze cleared. Her face tightened as she remembered who she was, and what she had to do.
She remembered her duty, her loyalty, and her team.
She tried to disentangle herself from his body—but his hold grew tighter. She settled for turning her head away from him. She would not look into his eyes. This man belonged to another woman. It didn't matter to Sakura whether or not that woman wanted him or not. He was technically still off the market. She had no right to be here with him like this. For all she knew, Saku could come back realizing what she had at her fingertips and be anxious to get him back. Sakura was a brief interloper—that was all.
He didn't want her. He wanted Saku. She was her replacement.
Not that any of that mattered, anyway. She had a responsibility to come home. Kakashi-sensei needed her, and she would not fail him.
"I can't," she finally replied.
"Fine. But when you leave, I'm coming with you."
"That's insane. If you leave, then who will be the next Hokage? Do you think that your clan will accept your disappearance as if it were nothing? They will assume the worst—that you have been killed in order to keep you from taking your place as the Hokage. The Uchiha massacre could still occur here. You are a symbol to the Uchiha clan. You won't turn your back on them."
"There are only two choices here. Either you stay or we both leave. I'll let you make the decision."
"What is wrong with you? What is my staying here going to accomplish?"
"My reasoning is simple if you think on it. You and Uzumaki have become a crutch to my brother. If my other self went through with my original plan, then your Sasuke has been manipulated for quite some time. Then I can only assume after he disposed of me, Madara began to manipulate him...and then lastly, you and Naruto."
"We do not manipulate him!"
"Don't you? Weren't you the one who said you weren't sure if Naruto really lost control of the Kyuubi?"
"I—"
"It's time for Sasuke to learn another lesson. First, he needs to learn to use his own mind. He needs to stable independently from you and Uzumaki. If you go back, then things will undoubtedly go as you planned. Uzumaki will become Hokage. The three of you will unite and clear the village of corruption. You will marry my little brother and sire children. And then you will realize that something is missing in your life—something that Sasuke will never be able to give you. Resentment will fester inside of you, and in the end the love you feel for my brother will turn to loathing. You will eventually do something to betray him. Perhaps you'll take a lover or maybe you'll just leave. In the end, whatever you do will destroy him. Second, he also needs to learn how to forgive—he needs to forgive and let go. This is what you should be helping him with."
Sakura stared at him quietly. The scenario that he had just played out ran through her mind and left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was true. It was all very much true. She didn't love Sasuke. Well, she did...but she didn't love him in a way that would make a marriage work. If she went home, it would be her that would eventually put the final nail in the coffin of Team Seven.
She could still leave and determine that she would not be Sasuke's wife, but she knew Sasuke. He would feel as if she had betrayed him, anyway. It was true that in reality, he had no claims on her—but Sasuke's mind didn't work that way. He had not expressed a desire to be with her, but in his mind she knew that it was his intention all along. Sasuke would think that she was rejecting him, when all she was trying to do was ensure his happiness. He would not forgive her easily, if he forgave her at all. He would become frigid and distant.
Who knows what he would do?
Just thinking about it scared her.
Wisdom would indicate that her best course of action would be to stay. Sasuke wouldn't expect for Saku to become his wife. He would be forced into taking another path, but...wouldn't that be her manipulating him? Sakura's brow furrowed in irritation. There was no right choice. No right path that she could walk on. She was being torn in two with no hope of salvation.
"Stay with me." Itachi's voice interrupted her train of thought. "And I will help you."
Sakura looked into his ebony eyes that shone at her with such confidence, such assurance that she couldn't help but believe him. She knew she shouldn't, because of who he was. She shouldn't trust him. Sure, he hadn't massacred the Uchiha clan, but he had thought about it. That he could even think of it was reason enough not to trust him.
Yet she did trust him.
Insanity didn't run in her family, but she knew without a doubt that she was going mad. Sakura's tongue darted out and moistened her lips. She ran her fingers through her hair, then opened her mouth to utter the words that she somehow knew would change her destiny.
"I will stay."
"Kakashi, report."
"One of my hounds was sent here by my other self with some sort of message for Sakura."
"Were you able to obtain the message?"
"The actual letter, no—but I was able to see what was written on it."
"And?"
"They plan on switching back."
"What action has Itachi taken to prevent this?"
"He has convinced her to stay."
"Good," Tsunade said, a small smile playing on her lips. "Did Itachi sense your presence?"
"If he did, then he did not let on or he just didn't care," Kakashi said, trying to keep the bitterness from creeping into his voice. "Hokage-sama, if you don't mind me asking..."
"That depends upon what you are asking."
"What exactly are you planning?"
Tsunade turned her chair and looked out the window. "That, Kakashi, will all be revealed in time."
A/N: Thanks so much to cutecrazyice for beta-ing this chapter for me and never once complained when I kept adding stuff and sending to her again and again.
Gasp! What is Tsunade up to?