Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 59: To kill or not

War. It had to happen. There was no way to go around it. Yuki dreaded having to say those words as anyone else would. However, this war was different. It wasn't for power. It was for freedom. It was for the future of the world they knew and loved. They were fighting together, not against each other. They were doing it to protect, not to destroy. It was a different kind of war. There was no wrong from their side in this war. It comforted Yuki. She quickly headed over to where Kakashi, Yamato and Naruto were resting as soon as the meeting between the five villages was over. It wasn't too far away from the Kages Summit. Gaara said he would join her there as he felt he needed to speak to Naruto as well. She flashed herself there first as she bid farewell to everyone. She wanted to let Kakashi know of everything and then head out to find Danzo. She felt that he needed to be brought out to justice for all the evil he did. When they told her about him manipulating Mifune with some sort of genjutsu, she figured that it had something to do with the fact that he had been hunting for Sharingans all his life. She believed he stole eyes from the Uchiha clan in order to gain the power himself. She needed to seek justice for the now almost exterminated clan.

As she appeared in the inn where they were resting, they seemed to have been in deep conversation with each other. Kakashi looked at her and quickly noticed that her hair had been cut much shorter. Her clothes were also dusty. Looking at the expression on her face, he knew that what she was about to say wasn't going to be quite nice to hear:

"Madara just made a declaration of war against all." She said very simply. "Danzo deserted the premises when Sasuke attacked the Kages Summit. The Alliance between the villages won't recognize him as the Hokage. They've instead decided to delegate that role to you, senpai."

"And there I thought I was going to be free from that role." Kakashi said as he sighed. "But war, eh?"

"Sasuke attacked the Kages Summit?" Naruto asked, shocked. "Why…"

"It seems like his revenge isn't actually complete."

"Then what he said…" Naruto began before glancing over at Yamato and Kakashi.

"You can say it in front of Yuki. I think she knows far more than we do about the matter." Kakashi told him.

"That masked guy we've talked to you about previously…"

"Madara." Yuki told him.

"Yeah, him. He told us about Itachi and how he sacrificed himself for the sake of the village and Sasuke."

"That is the truth."

"Then… why did Sasuke decide to attack the Kages Summit?" Naruto asked.

"I think you know the answer, Naruto." Yuki replied.

"Why didn't he return to the village instead after learning about his brother's sacrifice? He should have. Shouldn't he be protecting what his brother cherished the most?"

"It seems his answer is quite the opposite of what Itachi had wanted. He's waging war against all of us as a revenge for putting his brother in such misery his whole entire life."

"How long have you known the truth for?" Kakashi asked Yuki.

"Since Itachi left that night." Yuki answered. "Even if he fooled the entire world, I knew him well enough to conclude that he had good reasons for doing what he did. He was also the one who asked me to take care of Sasuke for him. Those few words were enough for me to understand where his heart stood."

They all went silent. It was the first time Naruto felt this way. He always loved the village so much and always felt like it couldn't do wrong. He now understood Sasuke. However, at the same time, he also disagreed with the way Sasuke was responding. Had it been Naruto, he would aim to change things in the village. He wouldn't seek its destruction nor the destruction of everything as they knew it. As much as his heart ached for Sasuke, he couldn't agree with the way he was about to handle things.

"Where is Sasuke now?" Naruto asked abruptly as he stood up from his sitting position.

"He's probably going after Danzo. I'll explain that at another time." Yuki said as she walked towards the window.

"Naruto, you are staying here." Kakashi told him as he noticed Naruto heading for the window as well. "You are in no condition to go anywhere right now. Besides, the priority now is to return to the village to relay the message to everyone and prepare ourselves for war. Let's try to catch up with Sakura and bring her back as well."

"Sakura?" Yuki asked.

"They were just here a few minutes ago." Yamato told her. "She seemed to have decided to go after Sasuke by herself. Before you arrived, Kakashi-senpai was about to go after her by himself, but I guess now we will go all together since we need to rush back to Konoha after this."

"No, stay. Naruto is still recovering. Besides, someone is coming here to talk to him. I don't know everything that was discussed at the Kages Summit either before the whole incident. He'll let you know of everything. I'll go after Sakura." Yuki said. "He's already here anyways."

She looked out the window and Gaara was indeed already there, waiting for them to come down and greet him. All of them did. Yuki gave Kakashi a quick nod before disappearing. As she reappeared, she was now in the middle of a forest facing three unconscious people and one sleeping dog. Sakura probably used some kind of poison to put them all to sleep. Yuki didn't bother waking them up. She simply summoned one of her rabbits and told him to let Kakashi know of their location while another one was summoned to guard them in case somebody would attack them. Meanwhile, she gathered enough nature energy to enter her sage mode and began searching for Sakura and Sasuke within the vicinity of the forest.

When she finally pinpointed their location, she quickly headed over. Sakura still hadn't made it to Sasuke by then. Yuki rushed ahead as she noticed that Sasuke was actually in the middle of a fight against Danzo. She wanted to stop him before Sakura would get there. She understood Sakura well. They've gotten much closer throughout the years. She might had told everyone she had made up her mind in killing Sasuke herself, but Yuki knew that she loved him too much to be truly able to do so. It would kill her inside as well if she did succeed. Furthermore, Yuki witnessed Sasuke's strength a little earlier that day with her own eyes. He wasn't going to go down easily. She feared that the one who might end up dead would be Sakura.

She finally arrived at the bridge where Danzo and Sasuke were fighting. Danzo was holding the woman who was with Sasuke at the Summit hostage. Sasuke didn't even flinch. He used his lightning release to pierce through both their body, hitting Danzo in a vital spot. He then noticed that Yuki was there and pulled away as the remaining two collapsed onto the ground. Yuki quickly headed over and brought the woman away from Danzo. Meanwhile, Sasuke had drained most of his energy and collapsed onto his knees, panting. Danzo couldn't be saved any longer even if Yuki had wanted to save him. She had no desire, however. He then revealed a seal on his body that Yuki recognized as being the Reverse Four Symbol Seal. As he released it while cursing Sasuke, Yuki realized that Sasuke couldn't move away because he was still recovering his chakra. He tried and struggled to even stand up at that point. In that moment, Yuki decided to throw her kunai towards him. She could've let Danzo kill Sasuke and things would have ended without her having to dirty her hands, but she decided to save him. As she beside him, she grabbed onto him and flashed themselves outside of the seal's range.

The seal destroyed everything within its range. The bridge they were fighting was barely still recognizable. Danzo's body was now immobile on the ground. Yuki headed over to claim it as she believed it contained plenty of secrets that shouldn't be revealed to the rest of the world. However, before she could seal it into a scroll and bring it back to Konoha, the masked man who claimed himself to be Madara appeared out of nowhere and kicked Yuki out of the way. He then transported Danzo's body into another dimension before showing further interest in Yuki.

Although the hit didn't hurt Yuki all that much, she was still shocked by his sudden appearance. As she stood up after hitting the water below the bridge, she was told by the masked man:

"I'm not here to fight you just yet."

"I'm ready though." She replied as she tied her hair into a ponytail and pulled out her katana.

"You probably already noticed but physical attacks do nothing to me. Even the Raikage couldn't land a hit." He told her. "I'm really just here to talk."

"That's unfortunate, because I don't really want to."

Sasuke then joined the masked man. He had seemingly recovered. It was perhaps like what the Mizukage had previously described: White Zetsu probably transferred him some chakra stolen from others. He looked at her and pointed his sword at her:

"Don't think for a second that I owe you my life."

"Never did, never will. I did it for Naruto and your brother. They wouldn't want you dead." She replied. "If it was only up to me, I would have let you die up there."

It wasn't the entire truth. Although she did save him for others' sake, her body also unconsciously acted to save him before her brain could justify its movement.

"Sasuke. Take care of Karin first. She knows too much. Besides, you can't fight this one in your current condition."

Sasuke glared at him angrily, but obeyed regardless as he knew that the masked man wasn't wrong. He headed for the one named Karin. Yuki tried to go after him to prevent him from killing her as she sensed that Karin was just like Sakura for some reason. She felt like Karin cared for Sasuke whole-heartedly and not many were left feeling that way about him. However, she was stopped by the masked man.

"You are not using your eyes." He told her as she took a few steps back.

She then sensed Sakura's presence. She had arrived as well and was about to witness Sasuke's murderous behavior. Yuki tried to get away from the masked man, but he kept blocking her way. His teleportation was just as quick as Yuki's and she struggled to make her way there. As she was fighting Madara, she heard Sakura telling Sasuke that she would join him. Yuki bit her lip as she knew Sakura was lying simply to get closer to Sasuke and kill him. He then told her to prove herself first by killing Karin. Sakura was no murderer. However, she kept the act going. Yuki had to stop her. As she thought about it, Kakashi suddenly appeared and allowed her to have an opening to head over to Sakura. Before she knew it, Sasuke was already trying to kill Sakura with his sword. Yuki rushed in between them just in time to stop him as Sakura fell onto her knees, realizing now who Sasuke had become.

"That was low, Sasuke." Yuki told him as they were now face to face. "Even for someone like you."

Kakashi took Sakura and Karin away and instructed her to heal the red-headed ninja as she would be able to give them intelligence about Sasuke and the masked man. Sakura was in tears, but still did as she was told. He then glared at Sasuke as his former student was now laughing maniacally.

"You both act like I still need to be taught things." He said. "I'm no longer a kid."

"And because you are no longer a kid, you have to take responsibilities for your actions." Kakashi said as he headed towards Sasuke in great speed.

Sasuke then unleashed his mangekyo sharingan once again, knowing that he would need it to fight both Kakashi and Yuki. Suddenly, he started losing balance. Yuki only realized then that the light in his eyes was starting to fade just like what had happened with Itachi's eyes. It was because he had overused those eyes. He was becoming blind. She wasn't the only one who noticed that Sasuke was losing sight. Sakura, having finished healing Karin, came back and was now trying to attack Sasuke sneakily. However, he wasn't blind to the point where he wasn't able to notice her. His other senses were still very much active. He tried to kill her a second time. Yuki jumped in and stopped him just in time, sacrificing yet again a few strands of hair. At that moment, Naruto somehow also arrived on the scene and kicked Sasuke back.

"Sasuke…" He then said as he was now standing face to face with his best friend. "You… I know everything now. I understand where you are coming from now, but this really isn't the right way…"

"What do you understand, Naruto? You've always been all by yourself. I lost everything that night because of…" Sasuke said.

"Some bad decisions made by people who didn't give a sh*t." Yuki interrupted him. "I was angry too."

"But you did nothing about it." He told her.

"Because I believed in Itachi's judgment." She replied dryly. "It was the only way to keep the honor of the Uchiha Clan."

"He was wrong." Sasuke replied angrily. "He should have fought for power. That's where true honor lies. But now, I guess it is my turn to restore that honor by destroying everything that lead to its massacre. Only then will people truly respect and honor the Uchiha clan. They will see it as a superior clan. They won't remember its failure with Itachi."

"Naruto, Sakura." Kakashi then said, saddened. "This is who Sasuke is now. I know you both wanted him to return to the village, but he only has its destruction in mind now. I don't want you both to witness this… Please… Yuki, take them both away."

"Kakashi… Don't talk as though you can defeat me now. You are no longer my superior." Sasuke said as he rushed towards them with his signature lightning technique.

Before any of them could intervene, Naruto went ahead and ran towards Sasuke with his signature rasengan. As the two techniques collided, the two of them were blasted backwards. Kakashi caught Naruto in his flight while the masked man reappeared and caught Sasuke before he could land against the rock wall behind him.

"We've got business to attend to. We won't keep you entertained any longer." He told them as he disappeared with Sasuke.

Naruto kept looking where they had disappeared. He felt like Sasuke had once again just slipped right through his fingers. There was so much that needed to be said, yet he never had the chance to and Sasuke was unwilling to listen to anything he had to say. It made him upset. He remained in silence as they walked back towards Karin to bring her back to Konoha with them. They then made their way back to the three that accompanied Sakura before she knocked them all out. They scolded her for a bit, but she was quickly forgiven. Yamato had also caught up to them. He then carried Karin on his back on their way home. Yuki and Kakashi were following the group from behind.

"You couldn't do it, eh?" Kakashi suddenly asked Yuki.

"What do you mean?" She asked him, pretending not to know what he was talking about.

He shook his head and smiled:

"I'm glad you didn't."

She smiled back, but the smile quickly disappeared. She wondered if she felt the same relief that he was feeling. She wondered if it was a mistake for her to let him live. She feared the day that she would regret it, but that was something only the future would be able to tell them.

End of Chapter 59

Thank you for reading this chapter!

Let me know how you are feeling so far about the story!

xox

Krystal