Capitulum XVIII – Even the Yakuza have rules.

„Watch what you're saying in there. They'll easily twist your words and trick you into admitting things you don't even want to talk about. Don't let them force a confession out of you, especially concerning Madara."

As they made their way through the dark hallways of the estate, Sakura felt herself growing more nervous with each step she took. In a moment she would be faced with the five most powerful Yakuza bosses in all of Japan. They could crush her with their pinky fingers if she stepped out of line just once. There weren't a lot of things in this world Sakura was afraid of; she usually prided herself with a steely courage. But facing the council of the Five Kage was by far one of her worst fears. Because if you have to answer for your deeds in front of them, you know whatever shit you pulled was of catastrophic proportions.

Sakura took a deep breath and came to a halt. Trying her best to mimic Sasuke's signature aloof expression, she turned to the man standing next to her. "I know why I'm really here, Sasuke-kun. They don't want information about Madara. For all we know, they don't even believe that rumour. They just want to see me squirm in front of them as they decide how to punish me for what I've done."

She watched Sasuke's expression turn darker. "Don't say that. Two on the council are still fond of you, I'm sure they will take your side. Or at least be not as biased as the others. Plus, you never worked for Madara. Whatever you did, he forced your hand."

Sakura looked at him wide-eyed. That was the first time she heard Sasuke blame Madara for her actions, instead of blaming her. All this time she was trying to persuade him of that; trying to make him see that Madara made Sakura hurt him and that she never wanted any part of it. Hearing those words made it seem as if Sasuke was actually starting to believe her.

A small smile crept on Sakura's lips as her eyes met his. "Does that mean I have your trust again?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, when a harsh voice made both their heads turn towards it. "Haruno Sakura, the Five are waiting for you." She gave the guard a small nod and turned to face Sasuke again. His expression was again unreadable as he just stared into her eyes.

"See you on the other side, Sasuke-kun.", she whispered while faking a smile. But he could see right through it. Sasuke knew about the inner turmoil that was tearing Sakura up inside. Because he felt the same way.


"I never thought that Uchiha's innocent little cherry blossom would ever find herself on a trial. But there's a saying for it, isn't there: Still waters run deep. Isn't that so, Haruno?" The gruff voice of the Raikage filled the otherwise quiet room. Sakura didn't dare raise her eyes. Her gaze was instead fixated on the tatami mats she was kneeling on.

She knew each and every one of the Five Kage. They were notorious Yakuza bosses in their own right. But together, they formed the most powerful and most influential criminal syndicate in Asia, surpassing even the infamous reputation of the Chinese Triads. Each of them governed one of the five main islands of Japan, and every Yakuza member on each island was subject to their respective Kage. Even Sasuke had to answer to the Hokage of Honshu from time to time.

The council rarely got together; when there's a problem in Hokkaido only the Kazekage can deal with it, the other Kages would not interfere. But when all five are called in, shit just got serious.

The creaky voice of the eldest council member suddenly caught Sakura's attention. "Raikage, the time it takes for you to chew her out will bring me closer to death than I already am and I'm practically standing in the grave with one foot already. So let's cut the crap and get down to business, 'cause I sure as hell ain't getting any younger over here." Sakura had heard of the Tsuchikage's grumpiness, but his reputation in that matter definitely preceded him. "You're right, Onoki. If the rumours are to be believed, we shouldn't waste any time. Sakura, tell us everything you know about Madara."

Gaara's voice washed over her like a river of comfort. Amidst so much chaos and betrayal, surrounded by people she wasn't sure she could trust, Gaara had always been one of the few people she could count on, no matter what. She finally dared to raise her head and locked her eyes with his. Despite his indifferent expression, Sakura could spot a barely visible smile. She turned her head in search of shock of blonde hair and her eyes fell on the Hokage of Honshu.

The tales people told each other about the legendary Tsunade Senju made Sakura adore the woman during her childhood while growing up in Japan's criminal underworld. Little did she know she would actually get to know her during her marriage to Sasuke. Tsunade filled in the role of a mother Sakura never had and she knew she could trust the Hokage with her life.

Seeing the blonde give her a reassuring nod, Sakura opened her mouth – and told them everything.

How Madara had contacted her six years ago, how he had prepared her for the mission to infiltrate Sasuke's life, how he had fed her information to topple Sasuke's empire from within, how she had refused to do that. Sakura told them about the day she had betrayed Sasuke and turned her back on Madara and her mission; she told them about how she had managed to stay off the radar for two and a half years, about how he had found her again regardless. Sakura had to hold back the tears as she recounted the day she had found her brother dead and realised there was no escaping Madara Uchiha. She described the events of the last couple of weeks and finished with the assassination of Danzo Shimura and the intel they got from him.

As she let out a long breath, Sakura closed her eyes and waited for the silence that ensued to be broken by the Kage.

"Well… that is a gigantic load of bullshit."

Sakura's eyes snapped open and her gaze rested on the scowl that seemed to permanently grace the Raikage's face.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'm the only one here who's old enough to have met Madara on more than one occasion and let me tell you, this is just the kind of fucked up masterplan that Uchiha Madara was so infamous for.", the Tsuchikage threw in pointing a finger at the Raikage. "Or rather, is infamous for. If we are to believe Haruno's story, the bastard is alive and as much as I hate to admit it, that guy is no joke." The Mizukage crossed her arms in front of her chest and suspiciously eyed Sakura, who was still kneeling in front of them.

The Raikage's roaring voice filled the room once again. "Oh please, that Uchiha fucker is dead. That's just a silly imposter trying to get rid of Sasuke so he can take over control of Japan's capital."

"That's just it, though. Who in their right mind would impersonate Uchiha Madara? That name invokes fear even when people presume him dead. Moreover, if he really is an imposter, how does he know so much about the Uchiha, about Sasuke's business; how the hell did he know about the tracking chip, when not even we or the previous Kage knew about it? We cannot dismiss this issue so easily, Ay.", Tsunade claimed, glaring pointedly at the Raikage.

Sakura watched the five council members bicker between themselves about whether or not to believe her story. This is ridiculous, she thought to herself, instead of exerting their power to stop him, they would rather sit here and fight over whether or not Madara really was alive. Gathering all the courage she still had left inside her, Sakura yelled, "Stop this nonsense!" Five pairs of eyes immediately darted to her. She didn't allow their shocked and angry looks to intimidate her, and instead kept talking.

"It doesn't matter whether or not you believe that Madara Uchiha is still alive, that man is a threat to all of us. He will stop at nothing to kill Sasuke, and once he has control over Tokyo he will definitely work his way back to the top where he once was. And when he reaches his peak, he will control every city, every island – he will control all of Japan. When that happens, there won't be a place in the world where we can hide from him. Because that is what we will be doing for the rest of our lives, hiding. So why don't you stop bickering like little children and start living up to your reputations and end this bastard."

Although she was fearing the reaction of the Kage, Sakura definitely didn't show it. She bore her determined gaze into the angry eyes of the Raikage, who she knew was the hardest to convince.

"Why don't I kill you instead, huh? You got yourself in some deep shit three years ago and never got a punishment for it. And we can't have our people believing they can get away with everything just because no one ever got to you. Even the Yakuza have rules. Or better yet, I'll have both your and Sasuke's head. He's been a thorn in my side ever since he attacked my brother once, might as well kill two birds with one stone." – "No!" Sakura was sure the look of determination that had graced her face mere seconds ago gave way to a pleading expression now. She had known the Raikage still had some unfinished business with Sasuke and that he would oppose Sakura simply because of her affiliation with him. But she would be damned if she let Sasuke go down for her mistakes.

Sakura put her hands on the tatami mat before her and placed her forehead on them, bowing in front of the Raikage. "Please spare Sasuke. I promise you I will do everything in my power to stop Uchiha Madara. Should I fail… you can have my life as retribution instead." Sakura heard the older man in front of her snort and could practically see the smug grin on his face. "What good is that to me? Sasuke was the one who insulted me; it's his head I want, not yours."

"This council values the old morals of the samurai, you still operate according to them. One of those morals states that the debt of one person can be repaid by another. And if that other person chooses to repay it with their life, you must honour their life and their decision by accepting it. I offer my life to repay mine, as well as Sasuke's debt, and if you honour the old samurai morals, you must accept my offer."

An unnerving silence engulfed all of them. For a few moments after Sakura spoke, no one dared to raise their voice. Not even the Raikage said a word.

Sakura was praying silently that this would pay off. She knew that she was one of the most untrustworthy people in the eyes of the council and that it would take a miracle to make them believe Madara is alive and to let her off the hook, at least until they dealt with him. Sakura also knew that the Raikage was the most difficult one to crack. One disagreeing Kage would be enough to shatter her hopes, because all five of them must agree on the decision when voting on something. If the Raikage didn't believe Sakura, their plan of enlisting the council's help with defeating Madara would recede into the distance.

Sakura knew that the attempted assassination of Ay's brother was his weak spot; even more so given the fact that Sasuke got away with it more or less unscathed. Sakura hoped that by offering the retribution that was long overdue for Sasuke's mistake as well as her own betrayal, the Raikage would be pleased enough to at least consider helping them.

"Very well. If you're that keen on protecting that Uchiha bastard, so be it. I will relieve Sasuke of his debt to me and my brother if you keep your word and pay with your life in exchange for his. Should you fail in your efforts to bring down whoever this fucker is that's been messing with us, I will come to collect your head."

Muttering a barely audible Thank you Sakura straightened herself again. She had already feared it would come to this. She had a feeling that she would be forced to gamble with her life during this trial. The council was going to punish her for her betrayal and alliance with Madara anyway, so it wasn't as if Sakura was hoping for a happy ending. This way she would at least die honourably, making one final atonement for hurting Sasuke.

Tsunade's voice tore Sakura from her thoughts as she proclaimed, "It seems Haruno Sakura has nothing more to say, neither do the Kage. We shall now retire to discuss what you have brought before us. Once we make a decision, you will be called in again. I don't think I have to tell you not to leave the estate until then."

Sakura watched the five Kage stand up and head towards the door. As they passed her, she rose to her feet and turned around. Her gaze rested on the backs of the Kage leaving the room, until her eyes fell on Sasuke. She gave him the brightest smile she could muster after practically signing her death sentence a few seconds ago. Her head was turned to him only halfway and she thanked God in that moment that Sasuke couldn't see the single tear that rolled down her cheek.

Everything was going to be alright, she was trying to tell herself.

It will all be over soon.


Post Scriptum: Dun duun duuuuuuuun! I'm sure you guys guessed it already in the last chapter, but yeah the council of the Five is of course based on the five Kage. I couldn't give them land or countries to govern so instead I just gave them the five main islands of Japan. I updated chapters 12-15 because I had to change one tiny detail, namely Gaara's territory. It's no longer Kyoto, but Sapporo. I wanted to make Tsunade the Hokage of Honshu and Gaara the Kazekage of Hokkaido, and then I realised it doesn't make sense for Gaara who's the Kage of another island to be the boss of a city on Honshu, that is actually Tsunade's island. So I moved his territory to Sapporo but sldfjaöslkfjöwljf you get the drift. Also, I know the Raikage's name is A but that just sounded too weird for my liking, so I named him Ay instead. Just go with it, folks.

Anyway, hope you guys liked it. I put a great deal of effort into this chapter, for some reason it was more difficult to write than the others. So I would really appreciate your feedback :)