Vespertine
Chapter Thirteen: The Reunion
These scars we wear remind us
The more we change
The more we're all the same
Sakura stretched, slowly lifting her arms over her head and arching her back until her spine popped satisfactorily. With a sigh, she stood and walked away from the fire pit to where Naruto and Sai sat talking in a shadowed corner. The night was cold and Yamato's wooden shelter didn't provide any creature comforts, so she was curious as to why they had removed themselves from the only source of warmth. Their muted voices trailed off as she approached.
"What are you guys talking about?" she asked lightly, though she was inwardly suspicious that the subject of their conversation might be her personal life.
"Sasuke," Sai answered frankly, surprising her.
She sat down with them and curled her knees to her chest. "What about him?"
"He's a bastard and a moron, what else?" Naruto grumbled. "I can't believe he seriously thought he could take on all five Kages at the same time. His brother must have cracked his head."
Sakura smiled thinly, though she felt little humor. "What do you think will happen when we find him?"
"…I don't know anymore," he admitted. "The answer always used to be so simple." That could be said for a lot of things, he knew.
"We don't really have to find him anymore," Sai pointed out. "He's coming to us, in Konoha. All we have to do is wait."
They fell quiet, thinking about what lay ahead. The meeting at the inn had been brief; after having time to think on it individually they had all agreed that the only thing that mattered was the safety and future of Konoha. Whatever happened, they would all play their parts and accept the possible consequences of their actions. They had left at dawn and traveled all day with minimal breaks, and were now only a few miles from the northern border of Fire. They would reach Konoha tomorrow night.
Aside from the occasional crackle of the fire, it was almost too quiet. Yamato had gone to set a perimeter, Kakashi was on first watch, and Itachi had gone outside as well. From his faint chakra signature, Sakura guessed he was probably on the roof. He had been more withdrawn today than he had been in weeks, and she knew it wasn't just because he was around relative strangers who didn't really like him. He was about to face his past head on—Konoha, Danzou, Sasuke, maybe even Madara. She couldn't imagine what he must be going through mentally.
Naruto was going through his own inner turmoil, and so for his sake, and maybe for hers as well, she steered the conversation in a different direction.
"So Danzou ran away from the conflict at the summit…the other Kages probably aren't going to take that well."
"Especially considering it was his mess in the first place," Sai added. "He's sure to lose credibility with them."
Naruto frowned in thought. "Let's hope so. Maybe we won't have to kill him after all. I wish I could have met with Gaara to find out more about it."
"I don't think it really matters," Sai remarked. "Danzou won't step down quietly."
"I don't think Itachi will let him, in any case," Sakura murmured.
Mentioning Itachi darkened Naruto's mood further. He had been keeping as far from his former enemy as possible all day, but now he couldn't avoid recognizing how much had changed. In every way. He couldn't hold it in anymore, and finally had to ask, "Why are you with him, Sakura-chan?" Her expression immediately turned guarded and defensive, and she looked about two seconds away from getting up and leaving. He sighed, and tried to make his tone less scornful. "I just want to know, okay? I know he's not what we all thought, but he's just so…cold."
"I've heard that when two people are isolated together for long periods of time they can become attracted to each other," Sai posited.
Now it was Sakura's turn to sigh, exasperated with both of them. "That may have been a tiny part of it," she admitted, "but there's a lot more to it than that."
"What if he's not right in the head?" Naruto said bluntly. Sakura glared, but he only shrugged. "I mean, even if it was on orders, he did kill his clan."
"And he carries the weight of that every single day," she said. "His loyalty to Konoha has cost him dearly, in ways that don't show on the outside. And he's not cold at all. I don't think he was ever very outgoing, but…imagine spending half your life hiding who you really are from everyone—even those you care most about. Do you think you would have an easy time opening up around people?"
Naruto did know what it was like to keep secrets from everyone because the consequences could be dire if they knew the truth, as well as how hard it was to trust those people when you knew they wouldn't accept the real you. The circumstances and the secret were vastly different, but he understood nonetheless. "But he does with you?"
Sakura nodded faintly. "Little by little, and I think saving his life had a lot to do with that."
"What about Sasuke?" he asked quietly.
"I don't love Sasuke, Naruto," she sighed. "I don't think I ever really did, and he certainly doesn't love me. We're not kids anymore. It's time to see things the way they really are."
Much as he hated to admit it, she was right, and her words resonated on many levels. Nothing had been the same since his confrontation with Pein. His eyes had been forced open by the revolutionary Akatsuki leader and he couldn't close them again. The idea that the world would be a better place with only a few motivating words, and that the simple offer of friendship would make everyone get along…it was a fantasy. The Raikage, Madara, and even Itachi once had said much the same thing to him in different ways. He couldn't keep deluding himself, and the reality check he was currently struggling with included facing the hard truth about his once-best friend.
He had to be sure. "You're happy?"
Sakura smiled softly. "I am." She looked to Sai as well, who simply shrugged. He had no history with Itachi and had no problem with it either way.
Naruto sighed in reluctant acceptance. "This is gonna take some getting used to."
"Maybe not as much as you think. The two of you share some common ground."
He gave her a hesitantly curious look. "How so?"
"Well…you're both brothers to Sasuke, and you're both relentlessly driven to protect him—from others and from himself. And you both want peace for the shinobi world more than anything."
Naruto said nothing, but he was thinking about that bizarre encounter in the forest roughly a year ago; he'd been certain Itachi would finally capture him and hand him over to Akatsuki…only he hadn't. He had only wanted to talk about Sasuke, and Naruto had derisively stated 'I'm more of a brother to him than you ever were.' Itachi had actually smirked at him, but it hadn't occurred to him why. Only now did Naruto fully realize the irony of those words.
The conversation died out shortly after that and they migrated back to the fire pit and climbed into their bedrolls. Everyone remained awake but no one spoke again, even when Yamato returned. The heavy stillness of anticipation hung in the air, making it hard to sleep. Tomorrow, one way or another, everything was going to change.
The fire had dwindled to little more than embers by the time Itachi returned. Sakura had wondered about him more than once as she lay there silently, but understood that he needed time alone and kept herself from going to him. His bedroll lay next to hers, and she smiled softly as he settled in. He gazed at her, studying her face, but it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Her hand crept out slowly and she hooked two of her fingers around his, wishing she could curl up with him and feel his arms around her. Itachi's hand wrapped around hers in return, and silent understanding passed between them. Sakura smiled and closed her eyes, and at some point late in the night, she eventually drifted to sleep.
Sai woke them just before dawn. The anticipation of what they were about to face had doubled, and they were silent as they broke camp and slipped into the forest, heading toward Konoha.
Much closer to their location than the traveling Leaf ninja would have guessed, another small group of shinobi prowled a cave complex, restlessly waiting with the same heavy anticipation for their orders.
Who knew how long they would be waiting, with their leader still unconscious after his battle with the five Kages.
Not for the first time, Karin wished she were a true medic. If she had been properly trained like the fifth Hokage, or even—she hated to admit it—like that pink-haired girl who used to be Sasuke's teammate, she might be able to do more for the man lying pale and still on the bed than worry and lurk and change a few bandages.
Despite everyone's first impressions based on who she ran with, Karin was not a ninja. She should have been, and she would make a damn good one too with her ability, but her life had been unconventional at best, and the world was hardly fair. A lot of things should be that weren't, she thought, gazing at her leader-slash-sort of friend-slash-almost…whatever the hell he was to her now. Complicated didn't even begin to sum up Uchiha Sasuke and the nature of his association to her, and it was only going to get more complicated as time went on.
With more tenderness than she would ever show if he were awake—or if the others were around—she reached out and brushed his shaggy hair from his brow with hesitant fingertips. Sasuke stirred at her touch, brow furrowing as pain returned with awareness, and she withdrew her hand as if burned.
Groggy as only one waking from unconsciousness could be, he opened his eyes, and after a long moment of haziness and the sudden fresh pain of his injuries, finally focused on her. "Karin," he murmured thickly. "What happened?"
"What do you remember?"
"…Fighting. Being crushed…."
Karin nodded, recalling that terrifying instant when his chakra had disappeared and she thought he was dead. "Madara did a space-time jutsu to get you out of there, and then he sent me to heal you," she explained.
Accepting her answer impassively, his eyes traveled over the bare stone walls and took in the spare, dark room lit only by a single oil lamp on the bedside table. "What is this place?"
"Another of Madara's compounds, in Fire. You've been out for almost a week."
That surprised him, though he said nothing. His Mangekyo was still unmastered and he hadn't been prepared to use Susanoo…it must have been too much for him. Again he wondered how Itachi had managed to wield such power so effectively in such a weakened state.
"He said he purposely sent you to Iron to fight the Kages so you would be forced to activate Susanoo," Karin continued, indignant on Sasuke's behalf. "You and Pein…and Itachi…it's like he's trying to collect powerful doujutsu, or something. But that's not all," she huffed. "Suigetsu said that after Madara sent us out of there, he demanded the Kages hand over the eight- and nine-tails, and he talked about some crazy plan to use all of them to create a super powerful tenth bijuu…and how he plans to become the jinchuuriki."
Sasuke frowned. "Why does he want that?"
"He said the Rikudo Sennin was a real person and that he was the original jyuubi container. Madara wants the same power, and he plans to use it to um, make the moon a giant Sharingan and put every living thing under a genjutsu. An eternal tsu…Tsukiyomi, I think it's called. The Kages refused of course, and now Madara's gone and started a war with the five nations."
"Not a very eloquent explanation, but you got the gist of it," Madara's voice rang out coldly, as he slowly materialized at the foot of the bed.
Both tensed at the sudden appearance and Sasuke sat up very carefully, trying not to show any strain. He cast a long, hard look at the unwelcome intruder. "What is your intention with this moon plan?" he demanded.
Madara lifted his gloved hands in a grand, sweeping gesture. "Eternal peace, of course."
"Through mass-hypnosis?" Karin snorted, glaring at the one who'd brought nothing but trouble to them since the day he appeared.
"The ends justify the means," he replied simply.
"You would say that."
"Where are Suigetsu and Juugo?" Sasuke wanted to know, changing the subject before Karin got herself into trouble he was in no state to help her out of.
She began to reply, but Madara beat her to it. "Around, being useless," he answered wearily. "All your followers seem to be good for is saving your hide, since you can never seem to enter a fight without nearly getting killed. I had hoped you might at least weaken one of the Kages so I could take a hostage, but it seems I expected too much of you. If only Itachi hadn't been so treacherous…."
He sighed dramatically. "At any rate, since the five Kages so obstinately refused to cooperate, we will have to fall back to the original plan of taking the jincuuriki by force. Kisame is looking for the hachibi, so in the meantime we will start with the kyuubi. Once we have Uzumaki Naruto, you can take all the revenge on Danzou you like." He threw his hands up happily. "Everybody wins. Be ready to leave for Konoha in the morning."
He vanished as suddenly as he'd come.
"Why does he always act like such a lunatic? And that plan of his is fucking crazy, too," Karin grumbled. Madara scared her, and with good reason, but he was also damned infuriating. She studied Sasuke's troubled expression and frowned. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Going to Konoha serves my purpose," he answered, staring darkly at nothing. "Danzou's death is mine."
She resisted the urge to shake him. He could be so stupidly single-minded! "Yeah, and what about the other part? You know, where Madara takes over the world with a giant eyeball? I'm not saying don't kill Danzou, but if you throw Konoha into chaos by killing their Hokage right now, that's one less village to stand against this craziness. Anyway, I thought that Uzumaki guy was your friend once."
A long, brooding silence fell as his mind raced with a jumble of conflicting thoughts. He exhaled slowly and met her gaze. "I never said I would let Madara carry out his insane plan, and I have no intention of helping him capture another jinchuuriki."
Karin relaxed a little, glad he was only pretending to go along. It was hard to tell sometimes. "What are we going to do, then?" He remained silent, once again filled with gloomy thoughts he never wanted to share. "Sasuke…" she prodded softly, and placed her hand on his forearm, just above the bandages. Her cheeks grew hot, but she kept it together even when his dark eyes fell to where she touched him. "Please don't keep us in the dark. We're your team, and we're with you 'til the end. At least—at least I am," she murmured.
Sasuke's eyes traveled from her hand up her arm, to her face, and he just looked at her for the longest time. She hadn't touched him since…well, since he touched her, all those week ago. Her invasion of his space wasn't as annoying as he thought it would be, and he felt that faint twinge of something strange that happened sometimes when he looked at her lately. Her eyes were downcast, her aura nervous and shy, which wasn't like her at all, and he didn't like it.
It bothered him that she—and the two others who had followed him through thick and thin—felt so wary and uncomfortable around him. His first teammates had never hesitated to be themselves, even when he made it clear they annoyed him…had he really become such an asshole? He had certain goals and priorities and nothing would stop him, but he had come to realize he valued his comrades and needed their support.
"Go find the others," he told her finally. Karin looked up at him again, a flicker of hopeful approval in her ruby colored eyes. "We don't have much time."
An ominous stillness hung over Konoha, though it was not anticipation of confrontation that caused the unusual silence, but the fear of it. The night air was somber and cold, the streets dark and deserted far too early to be normal. The people were shut in their homes with the curtains drawn, either from a strictly enforced curfew, or in an attempt to protect themselves and their families.
Sakura figured it was both, with a heavy influence of the first, if the Root agents stalking the rooftops and outer walls were any indication.
"There's a blind spot in the guard," Kakashi informed mutedly, nodding toward a particular point where the watchtower's east wall made it difficult to see around the curved battlement. The weakness would have taken an enemy an hour to discover and by that time they would be caught, but these particular infiltrators had lived behind those walls all their lives, and sneaking into their village undetected was only slightly more difficult than walking through the main gates. "Let's go."
Silent as shadows, the six shinobi dashed and flickered across several yards of sparse tree cover to the base of the wall. Kakashi nodded to Itachi, who made a single-handed seal and focused his spinning crimson gaze on the top of the wall.
The group watched intently as the two nins above began flailing their arms about their heads, swatting at flying entities only they could see. Sai opened a scroll and quickly painted two ravens, which took life and form and flew upward to mingle with their imaginary brothers. The Root agents couldn't tell real from illusionary, and in their flustered distraction they didn't notice the two ink ravens reform into snakes and wrap themselves around their necks. Moments later they collapsed.
The infiltrators rushed up the wall and dragged the unconscious bodies into the watchtower, bound them with wire, and appropriated their weapons. Then they quickly descended the other side, alighted silently on a nearby rooftop, and disappeared down the alley below. Less than two minutes had passed since they'd emerged from the cover of the forest.
They made their way swiftly but carefully through the darkened streets, keeping a constant eye on the rooftops for patrolling Root agents, and stopped two blocks from the Hokage Tower.
"It's after midnight…do you think Danzou will be at his office or his home?" Naruto wondered.
Yamato peeked around the corner and back again. "I can see the office window from here. The lights are on."
That would make getting to Danzou more difficult, and would make what they were about to do more public, but they had all resolved themselves to whatever might happen.
They darted across the street and concealed themselves in the shadows once more, made sure it was still clear, and dashed the remaining distance to the tower, slipping into the alley beside the building. Yamato touched a wooden doorframe and melded with it, disappearing into the structure. They waited tensely, and a few minutes later a window slid open above their heads and Yamato poked his head out. The rest of them quickly climbed up and in. The wood-jutsu user had found them an empty room on the third floor.
Itachi formed another seal and briefly closed his eyes, and the air around them subtly shifted and grew heavy. The genjutsu was flawlessly executed; Team Kakashi only felt the change because he had excluded them. In the total silence of the room, their trained ears could very faintly distinguish the sounds of several distant thuds in various locations around them. Itachi opened his swirling crimson eyes again and nodded once. It was done.
Kakashi opened the door and they emerged into the hall. There was a Root agent at each end of the corridor, slumped awkwardly on the ground. Behind the white masks their wide eyes stared at things only they could see, their chests heaving and muscles twitching as they engaged in illusionary combat with unknown enemies. It was the same in every hall, at the foot of the stairs, and even right outside the Hokage's office.
And so without any interference, Naruto threw open the heavy double doors.
Danzou stood at the Hokage's desk reading a scroll, his back to them. He turned sharply at the unannounced intrusion to his office, and his face fell in a scowl.
"I wondered if you would try to come back. I thought you might have simply run away. It would have been the smarter choice." He dropped the open scroll on the desk and turned to face them. "I assume my guards are all dead?"
"Unlike you, we don't kill indiscriminately," Naruto said, stepping across the threshold. "But they won't be getting up any time soon."
Danzou regarded them coldly, calculatingly, as they fully entered the room. He certainly understood the situation he was in, but he showed no sign of concern. "I'm curious, how did you get all the way here without being seen?"
"Genjutsu."
Danzou's single visible eye narrowed. "Impossible. I would have detected it."
Kakashi shrugged. "Not from a Mangekyou Sharingan you wouldn't."
Last in the group behind Sakura, Itachi entered the room.
The old man paled as the last person he had ever expected to see again strode forward purposefully and stopped directly before him. But he recovered from his shock quickly, and his expression hardened into a sneer.
"Well well, look what the fox dragged in. You're looking surprisingly well for a dead man." Wheels turning in his mind, he looked suspiciously to Sakura. "Perhaps that's your doing?" Before the glaring kunoichi could answer, the truth became perfectly clear to him. "Ah…I see. That's where you've been all this time." He huffed with quiet laughter. "To tell the truth, I didn't even notice you were gone until I had Tsunade imprisoned and there was no apprentice to defend her. It seems I've underestimated you, kunoichi. And your master."
Sakura opened her mouth to give an angry retort but Danzou turned away from her, brushing her off as unimportant despite what he'd just said. He similarly ignored the other members of her team. His focus was completely on the Uchiha.
"And what do you hope to accomplish by appearing to me now?" he asked derisively. "The same old threat to expose me? I'm the Hokage, and you are still a clan-killing missing-nin. Everyone else involved is dead. No one will believe you."
Beside him, Sakura seethed with indignation, but Itachi's bladed eyes burned with cool loathing. "No," he agreed quietly. "I've come with a much simpler purpose."
Danzou understood perfectly, and a very palpable tension filled the room; the heavy, stormlike atmosphere of malevolent chakra that arises before two powerful shinobi fight. "I suppose this was inevitable," he sighed wearily. "I trust your accomplices won't interfere."
"Like we'd need to," Naruto scoffed darkly.
Slowly, Danzou slipped his right arm from beneath his robe. They were all surprised to realize it was unbound and perfectly usable; he had only been pretending disability all these years.
Suddenly they all tensed, each becoming abruptlyaware of other chakra signatures closing in with purposeful swiftness. Seven heads turned toward the window, which shattered a moment later and collapsed along with part of the wall.
All that could be seen through the dust was a giant mutated arm the color of mud. A moment later they could see it was attached to a giant of a man, who was obviously in the second stage of Orochimaru's curse-seal. He pushed into the room, and behind him was a white haired man carrying a huge sword that looked strangely familiar. He was shouldered aside by a tall woman with fiery red hair. And behind her, last to enter the office and face its shocked occupants, was Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto and Sakura gasped in unison, shocked by what they saw in their former teammate. There was a darkness around Sasuke that had never been there before, even after he'd gone to Orochimaru. His chakra swirled about him thickly, black with hatred and near-madness. This was not the Sasuke they had known and loved.
Neither assault team had expected the other to be there, and they regarded each other in wary confusion. Danzou would have tried to make an escape in the chaos, but there was no way out. Team Kakashi blocked the door, and Taka blocked the hole that had once been the window. Momentarily unnoticed, he inched backward slowly, away from his now doubled enemies.
The greatest shock was Sasuke's. Within moments of his entrance, all the rage and malevolent hostility drained from his aura, his face going pale and wide-eyed as he stared at the tall figure before him. An icy heaviness flooded through his limbs and settled in his gut, and his heart lurched in his chest as he realized this was no ghostly apparition come to haunt him, that he had not simply gone mad with grief. His brother was truly standing here, very real and very much alive.
"Itachi…!" he whispered hoarsely. He nearly dropped his sword, his hands gone numb.
The room went very still. Itachi regarded Sasuke silently, his brow furrowed slightly as he, too, noted the dark changes in his brother, and knew he was largely to blame for it. The Sharingan masked any emotion that was in his eyes, but inwardly, Itachi's feelings were a whirlpool of anger, concern, and heavy disappointment. And somewhere behind it all, there was guilt.
It came through in his voice as he finally spoke. "Sasuke…what have you been doing?"
Sasuke flinched as if struck. "W-what?" he rasped. He felt sick. This couldn't be happening. He had seen Itachi die with his own eyes! He had torn himself apart with grief and self-loathing in hindsight. He had spent the last several months hell-bent on revenge for his brother, for his family, to find the appropriate outlet for his own displaced hatred. But Itachi was actually still alive and…angry with him?
"You have every right to seek justice, but look at yourself. This is not what I wanted for you. This is—"
The air near the new intruders shifted; a warping spiral that slowly took the shape of a man. When the distortion stopped Uchiha Madara stood with them. His masked visage turned one way, then the next, quickly assessing the situation. Almost immediately he focused on Itachi.
"Oh dear, this is awkward," he sighed.
Nearly forgotten until now, Danzou was the first to speak. "What are you doing here, Madara?"
"Seeing to my interests," he replied plainly, crossing his arms. He never once looked away from Itachi, who stared back at him with undisguised hatred.
"Hah! We knew you guys were working together!" said Naruto.
"Together?" Madara drawled. "I wouldn't say that much…. True, we collaborated to create the instability in Konoha, but for very different purposes. You see, Danzou here is a warmonger, and me? I just want peace and unity for every one of us."
Naruto stared at him in aggravated confusion. "What are you talking about, you crazy son of a bitch?"
Sasuke had managed to fight through his initial shock, and finally came back to himself. He turned on Madara in barely restrained fury. "You knew!" he snarled. "All this time you've been pushing me to avenge my brother and you knew he was alive!"
"Actually, I didn't," he explained calmly, "or I would have rectified his continued existence." He shrugged. "What does it matter anyway? Does the fact that you are both alive make what was done to you any more bearable? The one responsible stands before you; will you let him live just because he didn't completely ruin your life?"
Now Danzou was outraged. "You degenerate swine. You always intended to betray me." He cast a withering glance at the members of Taka. "And you send your dogs to do your dirty work."
"And you issued a kill-on-sight order for Sasuke when you knew I had plans for him. We are no different, only I am simply smarter and better prepared."
Tension scorched the air as everyone present felt outraged and betrayed by everyone else. Spiked fury coursed through the room, choking off the possibility of sorting matters out. However, Sasuke's rage burned hottest and brightest, and refused to be ignored.
"How much of what you told me was lies?" he demanded, nearly shouting at the masked shinobi.
"Truth and lies are all a matter of perspective."
Sasuke gaped, astounded, at last recognizing the full extent of Madara's evil. His handsome features twisted into something ugly and vicious and he attacked with an inarticulate cry of rage. Sasuke had never moved so fast; one instant he was there, and the next he was on top of the masked nin. He'd thought long and hard about how to solve the problem of Madara's seeming incorporeality, and now he hit him with a simultaneous assault of Chidori and Amaterasu, lightning and black fire.
The expulsion of such immense power almost knocked Sasuke off his feet and cost him nearly half of his chakra reserves. But it worked. Madara couldn't avoid both at the same time, and though he deflected the deadlier Amaterasu, the Chidori caught him in the shoulder.
He staggered and leapt away, shocked and more heavily injured than he should have been for a glancing blow. He really was little more than a weak shell of his former self, and it was clear now why he had manipulated others into doing his bidding.
Sasuke went for him again, but this time Madara was prepared and dodged with equally blinding speed. He shot for the opening in the wall. Karin was blocking his path, but with no time to react, was roughly knocked aside. She fell strangely, not throwing her hands out to catch herself, instead curling in to a ball and landing hard on her side. No one noticed, for all eyes were on the empty black hole where Madara had escaped. Sasuke immediately followed, pausing only to lift Karin to her feet and cast Itachi a long, indescribable look before disappearing through the gap. His companions followed without a second's hesitation, leaving the original six infiltrators alone with Danzou again.
"Shit!" Naruto looked between the devious elder and the hole. "Taking out Madara is the most important thing, but we can't leave this bastard—"
"I will deal with him," Itachi declared.
Problem solved, Naruto nodded once and took off. Yamato followed, sticking close in case his demon suppression ability was needed. Kakashi looked to Sakura and Sai first.
"Find Tsunade," he told them, already turning to go. "She has to be in the underground facility. It's the only place that could hold her." They nodded, and he quickly went after his departed teammates.
As important as freeing Tsunade was, Sakura and Sai hesitated, caught up in the scene before them. Danzou and Itachi faced off again, and something was different than before. No one had thought to question why Itachi volunteered to stay behind when his brother and Madara had gone elsewhere. Sakura knew Madara was a more personal target for him, and the mixture of alarm and anger on his face worried her. Something was wrong, and she had a feeling it had to do with the strange, foreign chakra signature that was beginning to emanate from Danzou.
"I should have killed you that night as soon as you were no longer useful to me, before you started getting ideas of your own," Danzou said.
Itachi's eyes narrowed sharply. "What do you mean, useful to you…."
The old man chuckled darkly. "Do you still think it was the Sandaime's orders you followed that night?" he sneered, past all pretenses now. "You knew how opposed to it the old fool was. He never had the stomach to do what was necessary in a tough situation."
"You controlled him…how?"
"The same way you force others to your will…." He reached up and removed the last of his false bandages, revealing the scarred right side of his face and a spinning red eye. "With the Sharingan."
Everyone stared in shock. The foreign chakra swirled freely now, and seemed to come not only from Danzou's eye, but from his arm as well. The chakra wasn't foreign to Itachi though, and his expression darkened malevolently. "Shisui's chakra…" he exclaimed mutedly. All of the pieces clicked into place. "It was you."
"Yes. I orchestrated the confrontation between you," he confirmed. "It was a risk, but I was confident you would be the victor. Dissent among the Uchiha reached the boiling point, and I gained an invaluable prize. As you know, Shishui's Sharingan had an extraordinary ability to possess the mind of his enemy."
And Danzou had used it to control the Sandaime into giving the order for the massacre. What else had he done with such a horrific ability over the years? Instantly Sakura and Sai were on guard, aware that he might try to use it on them, force them to attack Itachi or even each other so he could escape in the distraction.
Itachi was enraged, and his control over his emotions broke as the full extent of what had been done to him and his entire family became agonizingly clear. There were no words sufficient to express his fury. He simply attacked.
Danzou was fast and skilled, but not at the level of Itachi. Shisui may have been a match for his cousin, but the thief of his abilities was not. The fight was over almost before it began and Itachi had the old warmonger on his knees, held fast by the throat. Danzou didn't struggle; he would retain his dignity to the last. But Itachi didn't finish him. He no longer had any intention of doing this quickly.
Sakura and Sai still hesitated, for through the gaping hole they could hear the sounds of reinforcements approaching. Itachi heard it too, and without looking away from his captive he said, "They won't be a problem. My genjutsu still stands. Find the Hokage."
With fleeting nods of assent, they ran out through the hole and hurried toward ANBU HQ. It seemed Sasuke and his group hadn't bothered with stealth, and now Root agents were running toward the tower from every direction. Sakura felt a pang of fear for Itachi, but she trusted him when he said he could handle it. She needed to find Tsunade before her guards deduced what the intruders had come for and took matters into their own hands.
Fortunately they encountered no resistance as they ran, and there was minimal security at HQ this late at night. They shoved through the main doors and Sai engaged the first two surprised nins they encountered while Sakura grabbed the third and slammed him against the wall. The impact left a cracked indentation in the plaster and he struggled helplessly under her iron grip, his toes barely scraping the floor.
With her free hand she tore the mask from his face and fiercely held his gaze. "Choose," she growled. "Right now. Danzou or Konoha." She didn't want to kill anyone she didn't have to; they were still Konoha shinobi.
"The Hokage is Konoha," he grunted.
She shoved him harder into the wall, causing more plaster to crumble and fall way. "Wrong. The Hokage is imprisoned in a cell below, but not for long, and once she's back in office where she belongs every single one of you will be held accountable for their part in this silken-gloved coup. Danzou is finished, but you can still save yourself. Now choose."
The shinobi regarded her intently for a long moment, then glanced at his fellow Root, who were bound, gagged, and unconscious. Then he looked to Sai—who had once been one of them, but had chosen integrity and personal bonds over unquestioning duty. When he looked back to Sakura his decision was clear in his eyes. "Third sublevel. Cell thirteen," he supplied resignedly.
"Thank you," she told him, and then knocked him out cold. He slumped down the wall into a heap as she joined Sai and the two of them ran for the stairs.
The underground holding cells were where they encountered real opposition, though not as much as they would have in daylight hours. It was difficult getting through without lethal force, but they managed to incapacitate or knock out everyone who came at them. Some, like the man upstairs, simply gave way. Obviously when given the choice, not all Root members agreed with their leader's methods.
Sakura tore the keys from the last guard's belt as he slumped to the floor and quickly moved to the cell. She hadn't known what to expect, and had been afraid to even imagine what sort of state her shishou would be in. When they entered the cell they were both shocked at what they saw.
Tsunade wore only the nightgown and thin robe she'd been arrested in, her feet bare and chilblained, her long, graying blond hair hanging limply around her aged face. The chakra binding cuffs on her wrists had prevented her from recovering her strength, and she was frail and weak. She shivered slightly with cold.
Tsunade had heard the commotion through the thick, chakra-enhanced steel door and had shakily risen to her feet. When she saw who entered her cell she sagged with relief and stretched out her arms. "Sakura! I'm so glad you're alright! I was worried he would find you."
Sakura rushed forward and held her, so angry over her mentor's state she was near tears. "I'm fine, Shishou," she assured. "Itachi is fine, too."
"Naruto…?" she asked, meeting Sakura's gaze worriedly.
"Danzou tried, but Team Kakashi got him out in time. We've all come to put a stop to this outrage."
They sank to the floor together and Sakura immediately removed the chakra restraints, then began checking her for injuries. Thankfully she had nothing more than a few bruises and a moderate chill, and as Sakura's chakra flow ceased Tsunade's began to circulate again. Within a few minutes her usual, youthful appearance had returned.
"That's better," she sighed. She looked at them each in turn. "Thank you both. Now…take me to my office."
"Shishou, you should rest," Sakura protested. "Let us take you home."
"It's my godsdamned office and I'm going to take it back," the Hokage insisted tersely. The murderous expression on her face kept either of them from arguing further.
"It may be a mess, Hokage-sama," Sai said, as he and Sakura each took an arm and helped her stand. "Itachi is in there dealing with Danzou as we speak."
"Where is Kakashi? Is Yamato with you, too?" she wanted to know.
"We'll explain on the way."
The three of them made their way out of the cell, navigated the shinobi-strewn halls of the underground, and exited the building. On the way to the Hokage tower they filled her in about Danzou's confession, about his stolen Sharingan, about Sasuke's sudden arrival and the confrontation with Madara. In the distance, somewhere near the training grounds, they could sense the turbulent pressure of powerful chakras colliding in combat, and guessed that Sasuke and the others had caught up to the fleeing Akatsuki mastermind. The situation was so insane that Sakura could barely even process it herself at the moment, and Tsunade was equally overwhelmed by the concurrent events.
Itachi hadn't been exaggerating when he said he could take care of the reinforcements. Inside the tower, the number of collapsed and hallucinating Root agents had tripled. Sakura had never seen such a massive genjutsu. Getting up to the third floor was tedious and slow thanks to the few dozen bodies they had to climb over.
They finally entered the office, only to witness a gruesome scene unfolding in total silence. Itachi stood perfectly still at the center of the room, looking down at Danzou who was still on his knees, equally motionless. Itachi had him trapped in the Tsukiyomi, and was torturing him to death in the most agonizingly slow and painful way possible.
It was unclear how long they had been that way, but with the arrival of the Hokage, Itachi decided to release his captive. Danzou fell forward onto his hands, gasping and shuddering as whatever had happened in his mind now manifested in full physical effect. He heaved and clutched at his chest; he was an old man, and his body couldn't take it.
Expression far from impassive for once, Itachi pulled Danzou upright by his hair and forced him to meet his lethal gaze. His other hand rose to his enemy's sweating face, and he pressed his fingertips to the wide, fear-filled red eye. "This," he said with quiet malice, "does not belong to you."
Too spent and broken to scream, a ragged sputtering of agony tore from Danzou's throat as Itachi ripped the eye from its socket.
Danzou collapsed again, writhing as pain coursed through every nerve ending in his body. His single eye glared hatefully at Tsunade, but he was unable to speak. They watched in grim silence as his breathing became irregular and strained, growing shallower by the moment, until it finally stopped. Itachi dropped his macabre prize onto the floor near Danzou's head, and walked away.
Tsunade was the first to react. She simply walked forward, stepped over the lifeless body of her usurper, and sat down at her desk. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave Itachi a long, assessing look. He met her gaze levelly, and waited.
"Well," she finally said. "You and I certainly have a lot to talk about, don't we? And the first thing I want to say…is thank you."
Itachi was taken aback by the significance of such quick acceptance, and it was a moment before he replied, "I am only doing my duty…Hokage-sama."
Tsunade gave him a tired smile. "Indeed you are. Welcome back, Uchiha."
"It's still not finished," Sai reminded them. As if they could forget with the sporadic bursts of chaotic chakra floating on the air in small waves.
"Yes…I'd like a word or two with that brother of yours," Tsunade said, still looking at Itachi. "Bring him to me. Madara's head on a pole would be nice, too."
Sakura was torn about what to do next. She wanted to go to where the battle was taking place, but she didn't want to leave Tsunade alone. The Hokage noticed her dilemma and waved her off.
"I'll be fine," she assured. "My ANBU will probably be here any minute. Besides, I'm no longer too weak to defend myself."
Sakura smirked at the look on her face, and realized it was true. Gods help whoever tried to mess with her master right now.
They left the Godaime in her office and ran toward the source of clashing chakras, which even from this distance could be seen filling the sky with glowing bursts of eerie red light. The pressure in the air had woken most shinobi in the village by now, and several were already emerging from their houses to investigate what seemed like another attack on their home in less than a month. They had to avoid major traffic areas to make sure Itachi wouldn't be seen and mistakenly attacked.
As they entered the training grounds, they saw that the cause of the strange light was a fire the color of blood whose unnatural flames rose up in a perfect, cylindrical column. Strangely, there were only two figures engaged in combat on the field, but as they came within range they realized Team Kakashi and Sasuke's companions were trapped inside the wall of flame. They were unharmed, but completely prevented from joining the fight. Though Naruto and the three strangers looked like they were about to take their chances in order to get through.
They had good reason. Sasuke's wounds from the summit battle weren't fully healed and his powerful attacks had sapped most of his strength, and now Madara had him on the defensive. He didn't dare fight hand to hand now that Sasuke had figured out how to solidify him, but the onslaught of powerful jutsu he threw at his distant descendant was enough to drive Sasuke to the brink of collapse. The youngest Uchiha had slowed considerably, even staggered a few times, and because of the fire-trap there had been no one to come to his aid. Until now.
Both combatants stalled upon their arrival, though it was clearly only Itachi that concerned them. Madara apparently felt confident enough to turn his blind side to Sasuke in order to confront the elder brother, who was easily the bigger threat.
"Observe the fruit of your efforts, Itachi," he sneered, gesturing to the panting, exhausted Sasuke. "You tried so desperately to toughen up your precious little brother, and look how you failed. All the tricks he's learned, all the rage-driven focus and training, and this is what it has come to. He will die before your eyes, and then I will finish you."
"We both know your threats are empty, Madara," Itachi returned. "You are nothing but a shell, with no real power."
Madara laughed sinisterly. "We'll see."
He vanished. Less than a second later he reappeared behind Sasuke, and in the darkness and red glow of the fire, only a Sharingan could see the sharp glint of steel. Then in a flash so quick no one even saw him move, Itachi was between them. Sasuke pitched forward to the ground and Madara staggered back. Only the brothers could see the kunai embedded in his chest.
"Not enough," he hissed mockingly. As the blade slid downward and fell to the ground, he de-solidified momentarily. But the electrical currents from the Chidori running through his body made the technique impossible to maintain, and he quickly flickered to a safer distance.
"Get up, Sasuke," Itachi said harshly, never taking his eyes off Madara. "You didn't come this far to die."
With difficulty that he tried his damndest not to show, Sasuke dragged himself to his feet and stood exhausted, bewildered, and furious beside Itachi. Not since he was a child still living with his family had he ever imagined a moment like this: fighting side by side with the older brother he idolized. It was so unbelievably surreal…he wondered if he was still in a coma and all of this was yet another sick, nightmarish fever dream. Maybe it had something to do with the ringing in his ears and the disturbing amount of blood running down the side of his head.
Or maybe it was really happening, which he began to believe when a barrage of shuriken came at them and one nicked him on the shoulder, clearing his head and startling him back to reality. He and Itachi dodged the wave and then attacked in unison, as if they had been doing it for years.
Sakura had fleetingly wondered if a showdown between three Uchihas would take the form of a battle of genjutsu vs. genjutsu, where the opponents simply stood still and stared at each other until one of them dropped dead, similar to how Itachi had finished Danzou.
Instead it was like an unearthly storm had descended upon the training field. Spidery claws of lightning arced through the charged air accompanied by waves of black and red fire. A hail of summoned shuriken of all sizes whirled upon unnatural winds. Soon Madara was the one on the defensive.
Frustrated and anxious, there was little Sakura and Sai could do besides watch and evade the occasional stray projectile. The three fighting ninja moved so fast it was hard to follow what was happening, and it was too dangerous to get closer with the blasts of deadly jutsu they were throwing around. They moved closer to their teammates trapped within the fire wall, but were unable to help them; the crimson flames gave off no heat but the ground was charred beneath them, proving they were very real and deadly.
The fight had been over the moment the brothers joined together. They needed no genjutsu, no ultimate defense. By himself, each was formidable. Together, they were unstoppable. Only Madara's speed and evasion prolonged the inevitable. Madara knew this, and though he and Sasuke were both self-proclaimed avengers, they differed greatly in one way: to Madara, self-preservation was more important than vengeance. With the last of his strength he hurled a giant, triple-sphered fire jutsu across the field.
Everyone was forced to jump out of range of the inferno, and when the smoke cleared, Uchiha Madara was gone.
The wall of fire thinned, then faded away with a final hiss. Smoke drifted low over the gray training grounds, and through a delicate rain of grit and ash, the first light of predawn etched a thin lavender horizon imprisoned shinobi hurried to rejoin their comrades, but they were silent, all filled with the same curious expectancy as they watched the two on the field.
Furious at their enemy's second escape, but strangely a little relieved, the Uchiha brothers relaxed their fighting stances and then slowly, almost hesitantly, turned to regard each other.
Neither had ever expected or even hoped that this moment would someday come to pass. What did they say to this? Who was supposed to speak first? Did they argue over the multitude of angers between them and the bitterness of many painful years and who was more or less wrong…or did they just accept it all and be grateful that they were standing here alive and together with only truth between them after all this time.
It was Sasuke who decided. Very slowly, almost unsteadily, as if he feared Itachi wasn't real and would vanish upon contact, or maybe out of fear that doing so would somehow backlash against him, he stretched his scorched and bleeding arm out and just barely touched his fingertips to his brother's chest. Sasuke flinched upon finding him solid and then staggered a little, a combination of shock, exhaustion, and a hundred jumbled emotions coursing through him.
Itachi was experiencing a similar internal maelstrom, and his expression shifted into something surprised and pained and indescribable when Sasuke's fingers tightened in a desperate, trembling grip on his shirt as he grit his teeth and lowered his head, silently overcome. Itachi was too overwhelmed to react, unsure whether his brother was about to hug him or punch him in the face, only knowing that he wouldn't resist either.
After a long, uncertain moment, he reached out just as slowly and laid his hand on the top of his brother's unkempt head. Sasuke's shoulders heaved in a silent, tearless sob. There would be time later for all the things they had never been able to say, but for now, they needed no words.
Sakura cried for both of them, and smiled through her tears. Then her stomach lurched as Itachi faltered and brought a hand to his head. Afraid he'd been injured, she sprinted across the field and drew up to him, already reaching out. "Itachi…are you—"
"Fine," he assured tiredly. His eyes felt like someone had stuck needles through them, and as he pulled his hand away there was watery blood on his fingers. Sakura gasped softly and immediately raised pale, glowing fingertips to his face.
Sasuke looked on in helpless anxiety, terrified even the smallest thing might take his brother away again. As he watched, a very strange expression crossed his face, accompanied by equally strange thoughts. Sakura was a medic? Not really surprising, he supposed, and it seemed she was a damn good one by how fast and confidently she worked. But her ability wasn't what really struck him as odd. She and Itachi were standing very close, and it wasn't just because her arms were short and he was tall and there was no helping it. No…they were comfortable being that way. Itachi was comfortable with such familiarity. Sasuke suddenly couldn't help but wonder if…but he wasn't quite sure he was seeing it right; he was on the verge of passing out, after all.
The others were approaching, but neither team got too close; one group was wary of Itachi, the other of Sasuke. Naruto looked like it had never been so hard for him to keep his mouth shut and stand still in his life.
When Sakura finished repairing the damage the extensive use of the Mangekyo had caused on Itachi's eyes she automatically turned to a bewildered Sasuke and reached for his concussed head. It would probably be a good thing if he passed out, but taking him into custody while he was unconscious would not help their efforts to get him back on their side. His three companions stared at her with varying levels of vaguely unfriendly apprehension. Especially the woman.
Tension rose noticeably as the ten shinobi converged, mostly due to the presence of the three unknown fighters. They were civil for the moment, but Sakura had a feeling if anyone tried to seize Sasuke, the weapons would start swinging. Though it rankled that he had abandoned Team Seven under the excuse they held him back and then went and gathered companions anyway, Sakura could grudgingly admit she was glad that at least he'd had people who seemed to care about him to watch his back all this time.
The tension between herself and Sasuke was equally intense, the small space between them filled with their history of uncomfortable exchanges, abandonment, betrayal, and the very unpleasant circumstances of their last meeting. Sakura carefully studied the shrinking gash at his hairline and avoided meeting his eyes, which would probably have been impossible anyway because Sasuke continued to watch Itachi as if he might disappear any second. Though he was still quite aware of her, and after a long stretch of weighted silence, he looked at her.
"You've been helping him…" he said, voice heavy with fatigue. "You healed him."
"Yes," she confirmed quietly. Finished at last, she steadily met his eyes, which were so like Itachi's, yet so very different.
The way he looked at her, it was almost like he was seeing her clearly for the first time. "…Thank you," he said solemnly.
A tight, fleeting smile crossed her lips. Did he even understand the irony of what he just said? It didn't look like it. In fact he'd already turned to walk away, but Sakura was more than glad to remind him of the way he'd left off with her all those years ago. "Sasuke?" she called out lightly. He turned back. Her smile widened.
And then her fist connected with his jaw.
Sasuke sailed backward a good ten feet and barreled into his comrades. They caught him and tensed for a fight, but stood down when no one else moved—including their leader, who sat sprawled in the dirt with a look on his face like…well, like he'd just been sent flying with a single punch from the girl he once thought had no potential as a ninja.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Sakura smirked in satisfaction. "Welcome home," she said sweetly, and walked away.
"Damn it! She got to him first!" Naruto complained loudly. Then he moved forward and stopped squarely before his shellshocked former teammate. The regarded each other silently for the longest time and everyone stilled around them again, even more unsure of what to expect from this reunion.
This time it was Naruto who decided. Expression firm and unreadable, he simply offered his hand.
Another endlessly long moment of hesitation, and then Sasuke gripped his forearm and let himself be pulled to his feet. They each held the tight grasp on the other's arm until the moment was broken by the sounds of people approaching fast. ANBU had been sent to look for them.
Team Taka reached for their weapons. Kakashi and Yamato both signaled the advancing squads, and the masked nins fell back. Naruto met Sasuke's wary gaze.
"Looks like Tsunade is anxious to hear what's happened," he said casually. His deep blue eyes were intense, almost challenging. "…You coming?"
Sasuke looked from Naruto to Taka, then back to Naruto, and finally, his tired eyes lingered longest on Itachi. He exhaled long and slow, steeling himself, and then nodded once.
Naruto grinned hugely, and the large group slowly began to make their way off the field. The members of Taka were understandably confused and wary, and even hesitated a moment at the idea of willingly returning to face the Hokage, but they had followed their leader into worse and had no intention of letting him go alone.
Naruto made sure to stick as close to Sasuke as possible, though the tension of unresolved issues between them was awkward and nearly palpable. Sasuke, in turn, didn't let Itachi out of his sight. And so he was very aware of how his brother fell into step with Sakura, how she looked up at him affectionately, and how he smirked at her in a very knowing way.
"True to your word," he murmured amusedly.
Sakura laughed softly, suddenly feeling indescribably content, strangely complete. She grinned up at him, warming at the affection in his eyes, and walked happily by his side all the way back to the Hokage tower.
Next Chapter: The Parting
