Chapter 19: Parting Ways
They had been running for hours now, but neither of them spoke a word. Her thoughts dwelled on memories of Naruto and Team 7. When Sasuke left, Naruto was so supportive and kind. As she wallowed in her grief, he promised to bring Sasuke home. Now she knew how immature and hopeless her request was—if only she had asked him to help her find happiness in other ways.
She wanted to let Sasuke know what was happening, but he thought Naruto was already dead. How could she explain her lies and still have him trust her about Itachi? Sakura regretted omitting the truth when he brought up Naruto's supposed demise in the Valley of End. She doubted he would care much, though—no matter how much time passed, he was still the stoic Sasuke who had almost killed her at Orochimaru's hideout. Empathy and concern for others did not complement his pursuit for vengeance.
Abruptly, Itachi halted his running. After a minor delay in reaction time, Sakura stopped, too.
"I can't go further. If you continue straight ahead, you'll find yourself at Konoha's gates," Itachi indicated.
His departure should have been a relief, but Sakura felt a twinge in her chest instead. She was slowly sobering up from her binge, so it must have been taking a toll on her sleep-deprived body—the chest pain could be nothing else. After all, she had only been speaking in drunken hypotheticals earlier. Though, she really did wonder what he might have been like if he had lived a normal life.
Sakura spoke quietly, "I won't be seeing you again, will I?" The words felt strange on her tongue. Only hours ago, she might have been delighted at the same phrase, but this time it lacked the success it would have otherwise implied. And, for some reason, she felt like she was losing a dear friend.
"I'll be returning to the Akatsuki with news that my personal matters were addressed in a much shorter time than expected," he confirmed.
"And what if I run into you again?" she accused. She remember that he and his partner had entered Konoha with the intentions to capture Naruto once and she suspected that when the organization learned of the jinchuuriki's condition that Itachi would be sent back to investigate again.
"Then we'll have to fight," Itachi stated.
Sakura snarled, "Would you kill me to keep your cover? After all, your partner might notice that we seem to know each other's moves unusually well."
"I wouldn't kill you, but Kisame might if you're not careful," he maintained.
She scoffed in disgust. His stoicism was making her nauseous.
"One part pragmatic, one part callous. Just when you start to seem like a decent person, you show where Sasuke learned how to be such an asshole," Sakura spat and continued acidly, "Whatever. He's going to find out the truth someday and when he does, he's going to look for you even more persistently than he does now. And when he finds you, he'll blow your cover to tiny, worthless bits."
Her chest felt ready to burst at this point. She felt so many emotions that it seemed useless to try to identify them all. For someone who had felt so empty for such a long time, her current state was intolerably overwhelming. So much changed since leaving Konoha and she was not left unaffected. Making matters worse, her eyes stung like someone splashed her in the face with vinegar.
"You know what? That's fine. You can keep standing there with that blank face. I'd say, 'Have a nice life,' but we all know how paradoxical that would be. I'm just going to go back to Konoha now and watch one of the world's greatest people wither away in a hospital bed. And if my future wasn't looking pathetic enough, I'll probably waste my time missing you, too."
Sakura turned on her heel and added evenly, "I hope you find out what it means to live life before it's too late."
If she had looked back before leaving, she might have seen Itachi's painfully plaintive expression.
Instead, she sprinted forward without a backward glance and pushed herself in the direction of Konoha's gates. It was time to go home.
Upon arriving at the gates, the two guards insisted on escorting her—they spurted some nonsense about her being a ranked criminal. The well-sharpened glare she sent them in response probably did not help her case, but Sakura was in no mood for caring. She did not need chaperones in the village where she had lived her whole life.
"Tsunade has been worried sick since you disappeared—how could you do that to your teacher? You should be ashamed of yourself," the scraggly male chided. He sounded like he spent most of his time with his face pressed into books. It was a shame that his intellect came attached to such social inadequacy.
Sakura shot him a look fiery enough to melt iron. "Of course I had no reason for leaving the village. I just wanted to see how many grey hairs would pop up on the Hokage's head while I was gone."
His mouth snapped shut and they continued walking in the direction of the village's central tower. Much to Sakura's relief, his partner was wisely silent throughout their stroll. Considering her mood, he might have faced a trip to the hospital if he had decided to emulate his tactless partner.
When they reached the tower, they accompanied her all the way to the Hokage's office. She noticed a flurry of whispers flow through the halls as people recognized her pink hair. She could live in the village her whole life with no recognition, but the moment she decided to take a holiday outside its walls she became a person of consequence. Sakura rolled her eyes at the absurdity of it all.
"Leave," Sakura commanded, "I need to speak to the Hokage alone." They hesitated for a moment, but her tone left no room for defiance. She sounded inclined to slit throats at any sign of insubordination and that was enough to make any sensible person scurry in the opposite direction.
Sakura took a deep breath and lifted her hand to rap the wood. With a double flick of her wrist, a knock-knock reverberated through the Hokage's door. Shortly after, she heard a muffled response permitting her entry. She lowered her hand to the knob, twisted it, and pushed the door open.
Tsunade dropped the stack of papers she had been holding in her hand upon recognizing her student.
"Sakura. You've come back." Tsunade's voice sounded somewhere in limbo between sad and relieved.
Sakura stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She walked forward to stand closer to her teacher and braced herself for the conversation that lied ahead.
"I heard the news about Naruto. How much time does he have?" Sakura asked softly. She did not bother to explain why she had gone or where she had been because none of that mattered right now—they would address the details later.
Tsunade grimaced. "I would say a month, but I'm afraid that might be a generous estimate." In nostalgic harmony, the Hokage and her student pinched the bridges of their noses at the same time.
Silence hung in the air for a string of several minutes. Sakura had no will to speak and Tsunade seemed to toil in thought. From the tired complexions they shared, it was clear that neither had seen rest in a taxingly long time—they were both overdue for a nap and, by the end of this ordeal, would probably be ready to hibernate.
"I revoke my original orders. You must go see Naruto. Maybe you'll notice some detail that I've missed. I could use a second pair of eyes and you've grown into a skilled kunoichi. We only have so much time. Please do what you can," Tsunade requested.
Sakura nodded and then asked, "Is he still in the same room?"
"Yes," the Hokage confirmed.
"Good, I'll go there right away. Have someone bring me a coffee every five hours for the next three days. If you need me, I'll be in Naruto's hospital room."
She pulled up a chair and sat at Naruto's bedside. He looked even worse than when she had last seen him. His eyes sank into his face as if someone had given him two brutal shiners, his skin turned sallow and waxy, and his lips cracked and flaked. Naruto looked worse than sick—he looked like he was dying.
"This won't be your deathbed, Naruto… Not if I can help it," Sakura resolved.
She stood and placed her hands at his temples. Gradually, she sent her chakra through his system to see if she could find the source of his destruction. Sakura stood there with her eyes closed and her focus honed for a half-hour before speaking aloud to herself.
"I'm missing something."
From her observation, his chakra system seemed to be low, but intact. She opened her eyes and withdrew her hands from his face. Even if her first test yielded no useful results, Sakura did not intend to give up yet. The human body had hundreds of processes that could breakdown—and she was going to stay in this room until she tested each one of them.
Suddenly, the scent of coffee demanded her attention and she found that someone had not only left a cup of java on the table next to her, but also brought in a tray covered with medical tools. She sang mental praises to whatever angel had visited the hospital room while she had worked—this was the meaning of deliverance.
Sakura lifted the hot coffee and took three large gulps. While drinking, she looked outside and saw the sunset. It might have been lovely in other circumstances, but today it only indicated the passage of time. Setting down her half-drained coffee, she went back to working on Naruto. She knew she was missing something and she would be damned if she did not find it. She would work herself to depletion if that was what it would take to save her teammate.
Hours passed and kind nurses exchanged her empty coffee cups for full ones. When the sun sank for the third time since escaping the hotel, Tsunade entered the room to ask about her progress.
"When you ran your own tests, did you find anything?" Sakura queried. It would be useful to know any previous results.
The Hokage shook her head and explained, "Nothing that I could tell except an inexplicable decline in organ functioning. It started the day you disappeared. Even though it's just unscientific speculation, I can't help but feel that the two events were connected."
"It seems impossible, but Naruto always had a way of turning the 'impossible' into the 'did you see that?' He was always looking out for the good of Team 7," Sakura agreed.
Tsunade smiled at the truth in her words. No one could dispute that Naruto had cared about his friends.
The Hokage cleared her throat and spoke grimly, "Well, keep working. When you wake up two days from now, you're to come to my office. The elders demanded to meet with you to discuss your punishment. Don't worry, I'll be there—and I won't let them give you any problems."
Sakura's lips pressed into a hard line. Putting on a show for Danzo would be difficult, but her life depended on it. If he had even the slightest indication that she knew, she was dead. She had no doubt that he would do anything to preserve his dirty secrets. The thought was enough to make her stomach clench—her only relief came from knowing that she still had time to craft a story.
"Understood. I'll be at your office by sundown two days from now," Sakura assured.
Then, Tsunade took her leave—she had Hokage duties to attend to, which surely included pacifying the village elders.
Alone again, Sakura sat down to continue her work. She had a long to-do list spanning the next 48 hours and not a minute to spare.
Taking the element of surprise, Sakura's body betrayed her and wandered into the Land of Nod; she quickly fell asleep. After all, biology had intentions and needs that existed without regard for willpower, wishes, and to-do lists.
Authoress's Note:
Sakura has finally returned home.
Thank you all so much for reading! As usual, a special thanks to those who take the time to review. You are all wonderful.
Have a great evening/day,
A
