Umm Hi? Okay, so I kind of abandoned this for awhile. It wasn't my fault! Blame the plot bunnies that attacked me! Bad plot bunnies! Bad! And the manga was being depressing. Anyway, I'm finally going to finish this. I think there's one thing I need to edit, but it's not in this part so nothing to worry about here.
This is completely SasuSaku. I've written them before, but it was always in bits and pieces, not like this. And I've never written Sasuke angsting over what happened to his clan. I really hope I wrote him well. Really well.
Final note before I stop: This contains a bit of spoilers from beyond Chapter 384. If you don't want to be spoiled at all, you might not want to read this. I haven't taken much, but still…thought I would warn you.
Title: Finding the Broken Pieces
Genre: Angst, AU
Timeline: Post Sasuke's Return
Summary: Sasuke's back in Konoha, but Naruto learns of the events that occurred while he was away and his past. Sasuke, meanwhile, ponders his own life and the battle with his brother. When the pieces are broken and left astray, someone must come and put them back together. NaruHina, SasuSaku
Pairings: NaruHina, SasuSaku
Rating: G
Author's Note: This fanfic is AU past Naruto Chapter 384. It's mostly the end result that differs. Basically, I wrote it different from what Kishi wrote (primarily because this fic was imagined before Chapter 384).
Disclaimer: I really wish I was a successful mangaka, however, I'm not, I can't draw period so therefore Naruto doesn't belong to me in the slightest. Naruto belongs solely to Kishimoto.
Nightmares of Broken Comrades
Sakura looked on sadly at the sight of Sasuke tied to the hospital bed. His lower body had been completely restrained and his wrists were tied to the edges of the bed with paper tags over the rope to prevent him from using chakra to release himself. All Sasuke could do was sit up or lie down.
And despite how much it hurt to see him like that, Sakura knew it was necessary until they knew of his intentions.
Sasuke had remained in the same dazed state he had been since his…no…Orochimaru's defeat. He had barely spoken since the battle and not talked about what he was going to do next. The only time he moved his head was when Naruto left after hearing of Jiraiya's death. He merely stared in the direction Naruto went with a vacant stare before returning to gazing at the ground.
She only had a little time before she had to leave for the briefing so she grasped his hand, squeezing it to reassure him everything would be okay. "Sasuke-kun…"
--
Everything he had thought was there was gone. His past…the grand Uchiha clan he thought had been everything to him had been torn apart, only the bloody stains of power hungry clansman remained. For the longest time when he thought of his clan, his family, he saw his caring mother bringing his bento box, his strict father passing him by without much of a word. He saw his aunt and uncle selling sweet rice crackers at their shop and he had clung to those images, just as the memories of their bodies were burned into his mind.
Those memories were all that kept him going when he decided to forsake his life with Team 7 for revenge. His dreams lay in the past…but now?
Now all he saw were people fighting over a power that they were willing to kill their family for. A bloody past he wanted none of.
Just like Itachi.
But it was all over, was it not? Itachi was dead, dead from a blind rage due to the aftermath of a mind breaking genjutsu; he saw his dead body with his own eyes. However, he knew it was not. Itachi's master and accomplice was still out there, the founder of the Uchiha clan, Madara.
Sasuke could hardly believe the man still lived, but it was true. Madara had come and interrupted his battle with Itachi and he saw the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan with his own eyes, which then tortured him…no. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to repress the images the genjutsu imposed on his mind. After all he did, he fell right into the Madara's trap.
"Sasuke-kun!?" Sakura's voice penetrated his mind, which only made the after effects of the genjutsu worse. He could almost hear screams in his head, tortured screams and all by his own hand…
"Sasuke-kun, please! Talk to me!" pleaded Sakura. He glanced over to her, not even moving his head to do so. She kept clutching his hand with her eyes closed, tears starting to trickle out. But Sasuke ignored her. She could not possible understand the pain he was in, how his world had crumbled to dust before him.
"I want to know what happened with your brother." Oh, no, she did not want to know that. She could not be burdened with the horrors of the Uchiha clan. "Please, I have to know. I can help you. I know I can. Just please. Let me in…"
She looked at him, with pleading green eyes full of tears, and something inside him broke seeing her like that. However, he said nothing, tried to think of something else in order to keep the memories of the genjutsu from taking over, but only the dead body of his brother managed to surface. And he started shaking all over…just like before…before Naruto entered the ruins of the Uchiha hideout.
"Sasuke-kun!" She let go, finally, got up and went to a table opposite of the edge of the bed. She picked up a box and walked back over to the bed. He was still shaking involuntary, his face sweating, over the same thing: Itachi was dead, Itachi was dead, his brother was dead, his brother was dead, his only big brother, the one he admired and loved…dead!
Suddenly, he felt a slight stinging in his arm and looked down. A syringe was stuck in his arm. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun…" he heard Sakura say as the darkness nibbled away at his consciousness. She laid him gently on his back while his eyes slowly gave way to sleep. However, as the images of his dead brother faded away, images of dead comrades with their blood on his hands began to dominate his mind.
--
Sakura felt like she had committed a mortal sin. She fell back into her seat, gazing at the syringe filled sleeping medication as if it contained a dreadful poison. Kakashi had told Tsunade of Naruto's accounts of Sasuke when the two met alone before fighting, where Sasuke seemed almost deranged in personality. He had been emotional, far more emotional than he had ever been, kept clutching his face and repeating to himself, "no," that he still needed to complete his revenge despite Itachi being dead, but refused to explain himself. Instead, he merely shouted and fought with Naruto and herself.
So Tsunade had ordered if he underwent another episode to be injected with the sleeping drug, hoping once it went through his system, Sasuke would be somewhat levelheaded when he woke up.
But it still feels like I did something horrible to him.
She realized something must have went terribly wrong with Itachi for him to be in this state. Exactly what it was, she could not pinpoint. Itachi was dead, that was what Sasuke wanted, but clearly there was more to the issue.
Sakura sighed. "I wish you would tell me," she whispered, stroking his hair as he continued to moan and groan while asleep. Nightmares, perhaps. The drug caused sleep, but would only be effective in clearing his head (hopefully) in the later stages.
"I've spent all these years training to bring you home," she whispered to the sleeping Sasuke. "It was hard training and there were times when I thought I couldn't do it at all. And I still feel like I can't help you!" She gripped his hand as tears filed down her cheeks. "I wish you would talk to me. Tell me what happened. I can help you if you talk to me!"
Behind her, the door opened. She heard footsteps come up to her and then a hand clenched her shoulder. "Kakashi-sensei…" she muttered, knowing full well the ANBU would not allow anyone else inside the room unless it was the Hokage, "What am I doing wrong? Why won't Sasuke-kun talk to me?"
At first, no answer came and Sakura just continued to stare at Sasuke's sleeping form as the nightmares slowly began to melt away and leave his battered mind. She was beginning to think there was no answer, but then Kakashi started speaking, "Sasuke is different. He is a person who focuses on one thing, but now that one thing has been taken away. Whatever happened to him during his battle with Itachi, I believe part of the reason he's like this is because his reason has been taken away from him and he can't handle that."
So…he thinks he has no purpose? "I see…"
"Keep talking to him, Sakura," said Kakashi, his voice somewhat cheerful. "He needs an anchor; he needs to find other reasons to live again." He sighed and let his hand drop from her shoulder. "I tried to instill that in him as well as that revenge would only bring him emptiness, but I failed."
Sakura got up from her seat, knowing Kakashi was primary here to take her to the debriefing, but she kept her eyes on Sasuke, watching his chest breath in and out in a deep sleep. "I will get through to him. I'll be his anchor, Kakashi-sensei. Naruto brought him out of the darkness, but I'll keep him in the light."
She turned, wearing a determined smile on her face, meeting Kakashi's proud one. He directed her to the door. "He's going to need more than one anchor, but I have no doubt that you'll be the first to tie Sasuke down," he said as they walked with out of the hospital room.
As the ANBU closed the door, Sakura stole one last look at Sasuke with a lot more hope in her heart than she had had when she first entered.
Poor Sakura. Poor Sasuke! They're not doing so well. Sasuke not at all doing well. But that just makes the healing all the more satisfying. And yes, I know that last line by Kakashi can be taken out of context. Knew it the moment I typed it. But I like metaphors too much to change it. And it's true.
Thanks for reading! - NessaMoon