CHAPTER 22

A New Start
(新開始 Shin Kaishi)

Sasuke and Naruto looked at the huge village gates that concealed everything that Sasuke had left behind when he left and now after four years, he was about to walk through those gates once again. As the gates opened up, Naruto looked over at Sasuke and he instantly saw how uncomfortable he was from coming back home after being away for so long. He sensed that it would feel strange, but Naruto would be here to make sure that nothing won't happen to him.

"Sasuke..." Kakashi said to him with a small smile, showing sincere gratitude. "I just want you know that I'm happy that you're back with us, but I also apologize in advance for what I'm about to do..."

"Do what?" Naruto has asked in suspicion, not liking how Kakashi had said that. "What are you gonna do?"

Not answering him, the copy nin walked up to Sasuke while doing various hand signs and his hands glowed a light blue aura. Stopping a few inches in front of the raven, the chakra that was surrounding Kakashi's hand were now transferring to that of Sasuke's wrists. Naruto watched as the chakra formed some sort of ring around the raven's wrists and chakra also connected the two together, making it impossible to try and break them.

"What the hell are those, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked confused, now observing the new circular binds that looked something like restraints, which is exactly what they were. Restraints. They were really putting restraints on Sasuke.

"I've heard of those before..." Sai appeared from behind the group, coming to see what was happening. "...but I never thought I would actually see one."

"Naruto, they are Chakra Seal Cuffs. When a defected ninja or a missing nin leaves from their respective village and return, we have to put these on them to prevent them from trying anything funny or attempting to escape. It's a safety precaution that all shinobi use when dealing with criminals." Yamato explained.

Naruto cringed in his mind when Yamato said the word "criminal". Even though that Yamato was speaking in general and not directly towards Sasuke, the word still didn't suit the raven at all. Some of the things that Sasuke did may have been on the borderline of being felonious, but he was still Naruto's friend, not a criminal, not an enemy, not even a rogue ninja! Sasuke was his friend and Naruto was not gonna let them do this.

"Yamato-taicho, he's not gonna go anywhere if I'm right here! Didn't I say that I would make sure that he wouldn't leave out of my sight once we got back here?" Naruto tried to reason with them, because there was no need to put those restraints on him. "Take the cuffs off!"

"It's an order from the higher ups, Naruto. We simply can't take them off. The elders had caught wind that Sasuke was returning here, so they took action before we even knew anything about it. They got to Lady Hokage first and made her agree to taking such precautions. He has to keep them on until further notice..." Kakashi concluded even further.

While Naruto continued to ramble on and on about how his former friend should not be entitled to wear those cuffs, Sasuke's anger had suddenly returned when they mentioned the elders and he tuned Naruto out. They were already making things more difficult for him and he hasn't even entered the village yet. Right now, turning around and leaving again didn't seem like a bad idea. It would be a whole lot better than having to deal with those people. But he had already told himself that was not gonna run away from it anymore. He was going to face the consequences. If the first step meant being cuffed and constricting his chakra and having to walk through the village streets looking like he was about to get executed, then so be it.

And so he walked ahead of them, taking slow steps as he stared in front of him while leaving the others behind. He didn't want to hear Naruto complained about what was right and what was wrong. Sasuke just wanted to go ahead, take the punishment and get this shit over with. It was irritating that Naruto was willing to go to such lengths for him. He had to admit, though. Naruto's persistence was really something admirable for a shinobi to have and he was somewhat glad that only he had that quality. Anyone else who had it couldn't even live up to Naruto's caliber for it.

Kakashi and Yamato noticed that Sasuke was leaving them and they soon followed him, keeping close tabs on him. Naruto quickly went after them, but not before telling his pale-skinned teammate in a calm yet serious voice, "Sai, I'm counting on you."

As the group slowly started to disappear into the village, Sai only shook his head in disapproval. 'Uchiha, the only thing waiting for you when you get there is a permanent jail cell. Naruto won't be able to do anything to save you for what's gonna happen...'

With that, Sai leaned his body against the wooden wall of the gate and decided to wait on Sasuke's teammates to get here like he said he would.

XxX

As Suigetsu and the others hurried throughout the forest, Miyuki was trying to keep up with them, but the eschars that she gained from fighting Ami earlier were eating away at her leg muscles. She knew the effects of her former teacher's flower jutsu, but she had no idea that it would have this kind of effect on her. Because of this, she was having a hard time keeping up with the others. Every now and then, Jugo would look over his shoulder to see if she was all right and she would give him a fake smile to reassure him.

Of course, Suigetsu saw right through that and knew that they had to hurry and get to Konoha. He was suffering from multiple shocks of electrical charges through his Chakra Network and he was starting to lose consciousness. But as stubborn as he was, he kept on pushing himself and ignored the pain. He called it a pride thing. Karin on the other hand was still suffering from her neck injury. Even though Miyuki had healed her with her Light Ray Healing Jutsu, it wasn't much compared to what a certified medical ninja could do.

And Jugo was showing signs of severe blunt trauma to his back from being slammed forcibly into the ground during that fight. Despite all the damage he took for the team, he was still able to move around freely like nothing didn't even happen to him. Team Taka always wondered what Sasuke's village was like when they had first became a unit and now, they were going to get that chance.

"Damn it!" Suigetsu spoke in distress, breaking the silence. "Aren't we there yet?"

"We don't have long now. The clearing is just up ahead! Just a few more minutes and we'll be there soon!" Miyuki said as they continued to run inside the forest.

"How do you know the way to get there?" Jugo asked.

"Because I am a shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Leaves from my time. See?" Miyuki smiled as she pointed to them the symbol that was engraved on her hitai-ite.

"Well, that would explain it..." Karin answered.

A few minutes later, Miyuki and the others had made it to the village entrance. From the side, Sai had seen the group of shinobi coming towards him. The artist looked at each shinobi individually and analyzed them one by one. They seem okay and somewhat different, but as long as they weren't nothing like Sasuke, then he was sure he could...deal with them in his own way.

"You must be Uchiha's partners..." The artist greeted in a curt manner from the distance. "My name is Sai."

Coming to a stop in front of him, the group of shinobi had their hands resting on their knees, taking in small pants of breath. They haven't stopped running for the past hour and they were seriously exhausted. The first thing that Taka had noticed was how Sai had a similar physical appearance like Sasuke. The difference was that he had very pale skin, his hair was short and ink black, and his expression was somewhat miffed, which really irked them to no end.

Sai had raised his eyebrow at them with distrust evident in his eyes, but the one who caught his attention was the blonde kunoichi that was with them. Light blue eyes, cream blonde hair, clad in orange and black. Sai's eyes widen from how much she had favored the knucklehead on his team. His mind was brimming with questions that needed to be answered. 'Who is this girl? Is she related to Naruto somehow...?'

Miyuki had tilted to her head to the side in confusion from Sai observing her so hard. "Ummm, Is there something wrong?"

Suigetsu didn't like the way Sai was staring at her, but he knew just by looking at his pure black eyes that he was just trying to figure out who they were, or more specifically, who Miyuki was. And then it hit Sai. Miyuki had to be Nariko's sister that he had heard about from the young ravenette. If that was true, then...'No way... Miyuki and Nariko's parents are...'

"I really hate to cut this short..." A voice threatened with a hint of irritability. Everyone turned their attention to the female sensory nin. "But can we please get some medical attention? Some of us are really hurt here!"

"Geez, Karin. Wannabe right here is trying to figure out who we are and you're acting all crazy?" Suigetsu said, angered by the red head's outburst.

"Wanna...what?" Sai asked, baffled and somewhat agitated by the nickname that the water nin had somehow given him. He had no room to talk about giving bad nicknames...

"Jesus, woman! Don't you care about anyone but yourself?"

"Says you, Suigetsu!"

"Suigetsu, Karin, stop it!" Jugo ordered, stepping in between them. He couldn't take too much more of their continuous arguing.

"This team just screams 'dysfunction'..." Sai cut in, getting everyone around him to stop arguing and to glare at him with questionable looks. "It's nothing short of a miracle that Uchiha didn't pull his hair out by now..."

Karin didn't like the fact that Sai, this carbon copy, had just disrespected Sasuke and she was not gonna let that slide. So, she let go of Suigetsu and walked up to him, both hands curled up in fists on either side of her and ready to fight him. "You don't know nothing about Sasuke or what he's been through, so shut it!"

"Do you want to stand here and argue? Or do you want to get medical attention?" Sai asked, stating the obvious truth about Sasuke and his past actions. "Besides, you defending Sasuke just makes you guys look like worthless tools who obeys his every command. I'm sorry, but your preciousSasuke is nothing but an arrogant asshole who only cares about his well being."

Karin growled in a low tone, not liking Sai at all the slightest bit. In any case, he was being a complete asshole to them, despite them being outsiders to Konoha. There was no need for him to be so rude. "It's you who's gonna need medical attention!" The red-head screeched in anger, ready to fight Sai in the condition she was in, but Jugo had held her back in order to keep Karin from hurting herself even further.

In a nearby tree, someone or to be more precise, a silhouette was sitting on one of the branches with their legs crossed, apparently enjoying the little verbal scouffle that was happening between Sai and Karin. From seeing this, the person's full lips curved into a playful smile that was filled with happiness and mischief. Sensing someone was nearby with her chakra, Karin turned around and glared at the tree where she had felt the chakra signature.

Her red eyes narrowed and roamed from the right to the left, trying to see if that person would come out and show themselves. 'There's no mistake about it. Someone is out there watching us...'

"Karin, what are you doing?" Suigetsu called out to her, but she wasn't listening to him. He thought that she was just zoning out, but that was unlikely. "Hello? Anybody home in there?"

Miyuki looked up at the tree as well. Her curved eyebrow rose slightly from what was happening and she contemplated who it could possibly be, but she was coming up with a blank. She couldn't figure out who it was. 'Did Sakura-sensei send someone else here already...? Or is it the Bakudai again...'

"Are you hard of hearing, Ugly?" Sai asked, trying to get her attention, which he soon got when she glaring back at him with a unspeakable vice. "There's nothing out there..."

"Shut up, you fucking bastard!" Karin yelled back at him, adjusting her glasses so hard that she could crack them. "Nobody asked for your goddamn opinion!"

The person in the tree however let out a soft chuckle of amusement and their smile grew into a smirk. "Interesting..." the mysterious person whispered in the shadows of the leaves and they suddenly disappeared from out of the tree in an instant, not leaving behind a single trace of their essence.

'Well, whoever it was, they're gone now...'Miyuki turned her attention back to the others. Suigetsu and Jugo were more concerned about Karin than about themselves.

"Karin, I seriously think that kick to your neck knocked some screws loose from your head." Suigetsu joked and laughed about it while Miyuki glared at him with disapproval from saying such a thing.

"Let's go to the hospital, already..." Sai cut in rudely, getting tired of waiting around and not doing what he was suppose to do. "Come on, Ugly. You can use your colorful language on some poor unfortunate person later..."

And with that last comment, he vanished in a flurry of leaves.

Karin growled furiously and grounded her teeth in aggravation, wanting nothing more than to pulverize and beat the living shit of Sai with every fiber of her being. She had never had met someone like him and Sai was making Suigetsu seem tolerable, which has never happened...until now... "Colorful, huh? He'll have black and blue all over that pale moon skin of his when I'm through with him!"

Miyuki glanced up at the sky as she took in the sweet scent of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It made her smile to be back in her old home. "It's great to be back home and I missed this bright and warm feeling that the village emits now. Nariko, I'll see you soon...I hope..."

The four shinobi disappeared as well, following Sai so they can get to the hospital. At that moment, the same person that was hiding in the trees from earlier had appeared in front of the village gate and was standing on top of it, taking in the marvelous sight of the village. Placing a hand on their hip, the person just ran a hand through their hair and smiled. After looking for a little while longer, thes mysterious person had vanished as well.

XxX

In a white clean room, a young raven-haired girl was now resting her head on a white pillow in a comfortable bed. The calm breeze from outside the open window was cooling and relaxing and the girl had woke up in her bed, stretching slightly. She felt a little chilly and she soon realized that she was only wearing bandages that were wrapped from her chest to her stomach. She screech and panicked, grabbing the shirt that happened to be on a counter next to her and put it on.

There was another bed next to her, but it was empty so she didn't have to worry about punching somebody's lights out for trying to peek at her. Getting up out of bed and slipping on the slippers that were next to her on the floor, she started to check out her surroundings. The walls were painted a bluish-grayish color, the floors were made of tile, and the place reeked of medicine. She groaned when she finally figured out where she was.

"Great. I'm in the freaking hospital." Nariko concluded in a flat tone. "I hate the fucking hospital..."

Next, she heard someone knocking on the door from outside and Nariko looked at the door with an incredulous look. She was in a hospital for god sake! No one was gonna come after her and try to kill her or something along those lines, but she could never be too careful.

"Come in..." Nariko said from the other side of the other and a familiar face peeked in from the side with a bright smile. The ravenette couldn't help but smile back when she saw who it was. "Sakura..."

"Nariko, I see that you're up and about..." Sakura said slightly annoyed, writing down everything on her clipboard and trying very hard not to chastise Nariko for being out of bed. "...which you should not be doing at all..."

"I woke up just now, Sakura." Nariko said gazing at the pinkette, crossing her arms over her chest with a prankish smirk on her face. "Cut me a little bit of slack, okay? Hospitals are really not my thing..."

"Unless you want to stay in here longer than you have to, then I suggest you get back into bed and rest. You might want to do that for your sake and mine..." Sakura warned her jokingly, hoping that the girl would listen to her and not want to deal with any serious repercussions.

"And why is that? Because you'll use your brute strength to punish me?" Nariko asked and she let out an enervated yawn. "Or is it because I gutted myself with my own blade to save myself from being corrupted by the 'Bakudai'?"

"Well, yes. Because you went and pierced yourself in your abdominal area, your stomach muscles were severed in the process, causing severe internal bleeding. You had lost so much blood that I had to do a quick blood transfusion to keep you stabilized. Luckily, we had some blood to match your blood type to replace the amount that you had lost during your battle." Sakura construed.

"So, basically..." Nariko walked up to her and leaned in with her hands on her hips. "...you saved my life?"

"Ummm...yes I did..." Sakura answered simply, wondering if Nariko would either be upset or happy about that. She couldn't really pin down Nariko's attitude towards certain things on account of that the ravenette was so random with it at times. But the thing she didn't see coming was when Nariko pulled her in a tight hug, embracing her with all her worth.

"Oh, thank you so much, Sakura!" Nariko said with a huge smile. "You really are the greatest medical ninja!"

"N-Nariko..." Was the only thing that Sakura said at the moment. Her cheeks were turning a light pink from being hugged so affectionately by another girl. Sakura had always hugged her female friends sometimes, but it had never felt like this. She didn't know why, but it felt so different being hugged by Nariko. She could sense a small bit of masculinity emanating from her and the pinkette returned the hug with gratefulness. "You're very welcome, now get some sleep..."

The ravenette winked at her and hopped back into the bed, not bothering to get under the blankets to keep herself warm. She turned over to her side, her back facing Sakura and she whispered in a low tone, "Thanks Godmom..."

From hearing that, Sakura had stopped right in her tracks and looked over her shoulder from hearing what Nariko had mumbled under her breath. Maybe she was hearing things, but she could of sworn that Nariko had said something just then. Deciding not to worry about it, the medic nin had left out the room and gently closed the door behind her.

Walking down the empty hall of the hospital, Sakura's mind went into auto-pilot as she let her questions come one after another. 'Godmom...? Nariko called me 'Godmom'...? What did she mean by that...?'

"Sakura..." A male voice chimed in and pulled Sakura out from her thoughts. She looked up and she saw Sai standing near the clerk by the front desk. "You seem kinda out of it..."

"No, no, no, Sai. I'm fine. I'm just...a little tired, that's all." Sakura said, putting on a fake smile, making sure that it was real enough to fool Sai to believing that it was authentic smile.

When she got to the front desk at the hospital, she had finally got the chance to see Sasuke's teammates. The boy with white hair was constant bickering with the girl with the bright red hair. While this was happening, the tallest male of the group just stood there and paid them no mind. She couldn't help but inwardly giggled at the fact that they did reminded her of Team 7...in a sense. It was like Sasuke had never got away from them at all. Sakura found it sweet that Sasuke still cared about them enough to find people that resembled them in some way.

When the medin nin's eyes had set on the female blonde clad in black and orange, the clipboard had slipped from her fingertips and clattered on the cool tiled floor. Sakura's ability to speak and think coherently was completely gone...

* * *NEXT CHAPTER SYNOPSIS* * *

The next chapter of Changing Fate is:

Retribution
(応報 Ōhō)

Sai arrives with the rest of Team Taka at the hospital and Sakura nurses them back to health. Meanwhile, Sasuke comes to the Hokage's Mansion to receive his punishment.