Naruto Eiyūtan - The Convergence of Fate Chapter 24: Sakura's Decision, a naruto fanfic

CHAPTER 24

Sakura's Decision
(サクラの決定 Sakura no Kettei)

'Sasuke...is going to be killed...? Sasuke was going...to die...? Those bastards wanted him dead...?'

Those were the questions that kept replaying in Naruto's head over and over and over again. His heart felt like it had literally stopped beating and he forgot how to breath and think coherently. Naruto had managed to save Nariko from dying by the hands of the 'Bakudai' and now Sasuke was going to be killed under the consent of the Council? It was like he took 2 steps forward and 10 steps backwards with everything he was trying to do. Why did this keep happening?

Sasuke on the other hand just stood there like someone had already killed him. Now he asking himself this question: What was the point of ever coming back if he knew that this was going to happen? Maybe...just maybe...this was the best thing for him. He knew that the whole village saw him as a threat already, so why even bother trying to fight it anymore? If he was meant to die when he came back here, then...that was fine with him. Sasuke was not one to fight a battle that seemed incredibly hopeless to win.

"Execution? Without a proper trial?" Yamato said perplexed by the outcome of this situation. He was hoping that they would at least be reasonable and sentenced him to prison and make Sasuke atone for his deeds properly. This didn't seem right at all. It was almost unfair...

'The Council must of persuaded the Daimyō to take such actions...' Kakashi thought as he contemplated how it came to this point. The copy nin knew that something like this would happen. He also knew that Sasuke would face the consequences like a real criminal, but immediate termination? If Shikaku Nara was here, then maybe things wouldn't have escalated to such a high...

Tsunade slammed her closed fist into her desk and it rattled unsubtly, making some of the books fall off from it. 'If he can be persuade by the Council to terminate Sasuke, then it's also possible to be able to hinder this course of action from taking place. There has to be a way to get the Daimyō to change his mind about his decision...'

The sandy blonde looked over at Naruto and Sasuke. She could understand how he was feeling at the moment. In a week's time, her godson...was going to lose the very thing that kept him going. Naruto had fought so hard to get where he was and he was the reason for it. Sasuke was the reason that the blond pushed himself to the point where so many would of given up and just by looking at the expression on the blond's face, Tsunade knew that Naruto had feelings for the Sasuke that went beyond friendship.

"Perhaps I can step in and see what I can do..." A male voice answered, startling everyone as he appeared in the room in a cloud of smoke.

He was wearing a standard chunin flak jacket, along with a black long sleeved shirt paired with matching pants and sandals, and green lined mesh armor on his wrists and ankles. His hair was pulled in a spiky ponytail and his light brown eyes had an unreadable expression that crossed between irritated and oppressive. To everyone in the room, he seemed somewhat normal today.

"Shikamaru..." Naruto said, almost surprised by the genius' appearance. "...what are you doing here...?"

Shikamaru sighed, hoping that Naruto wouldn't have asked such a tedious question. Of course that couldn't be helped anyway, since it was Naruto after all. "I was in the next room making arrangements for the next Chūnin Exams when I overheard what was going on. I tried to tune it out because of the headache I was having, but I couldn't from all the noise..." The genius glanced at Sasuke briefly before getting back to the task at hand. "Tsunade, it's true, isn't it...?"

Tsunade didn't answer him, which was all the confirmation that he needed. The genius was doing some serious thinking about all this. There was one way to do this, but he wasn't too sure about actually going through with executing this idea. The more he thought about it, the idea behind it was like a double-edged sword. Depending on the outcome, It could go from bad to worse or it could even benefit the village in the near future. It was a hard choice, but he was willing to give it a shot. Going against his judgment, he decided that the best thing to do would be to do the right thing...

"Naruto, I know you and if you were to go by yourself, there is no doubt in my mind that the council will try to throw in jail for obstruction in legislative matters. They would take advantage of your feelings and used them against you. If I go with you, you stand a better chance at convincing the Daimyō to give Sasuke a fair trial and possibly save him from being executed..."

"Shikamaru, I knew you would come up with something, but how can that work?" Naruto asked.

"At the moment, my Father is away from the village and is taking care of business in Suna with the Kazekage. That means I am the interim commander of the Konoha Shinobi forces until he returns. Therefore, I do have a say-so in this matter just as much as my father would have if he was here..."

"Of course..." Shizune added in. She had completely forgot that Shikamaru was in charge of these kinds of matters until further notice. The medic nin couldn't believe that she let that slipped her mind.

Naruto was indeed happy that there could a slight chance to turn this thing around, but something was still bothering him. "Shikamaru, why would you do this? I don't understand. What will you gain from doing this?" the blond asked in curiosity. He knows the genius fairly well and he wouldn't do something like this just on a whim. There had to be a reason behind his sudden urge to help.

"We don't have much time, Naruto. If we leave now, we can still catch the Daimyō before his meeting with the Council is over with. It's a bit troublesome to explain it right now, but I believe that what they are doing is breaking one of the Commandments of the Konoha Legislation System."

"Naruto..." Kakashi concluded, placing a firm hand on the blond's shoulder. "Shikamaru is right. This is the best thing we can do right now. Go with him to see the Daimyō and we'll take care of Sasuke for the time being..."

Naruto then looked over at Sasuke, who had been silent throughout this whole ordeal. He couldn't even begin to describe how Sasuke felt at the moment. People had wanted him dead and without a chance to properly redeemed himself from the crimes that he committed, that was going to happen. The blond just continued to gaze at him, looking for him to give him an answer. Something. Anything to let him know what to do, but he didn't comply. He just stood there...not saying anything...

This did not make it any easier for the blond but just from the silence alone, Naruto knew what he had to do...and he was willing to put his life in jeopardy for Sasuke's sake...

Not hesitating for another moment, Naruto and Shikamaru walked over to where the lone ANBU was standing and they both stood next to him side by side. Giving a determined look and a curt nod, Naruto, Shikamaru, and the ANBU had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

'Naruto...why would you go so far for me...? Why are putting yourself through this kind of turmoil for my sake...?' Sasuke gritted his teeth in animosity from the blond's foolish acts. Even for you, Naruto, this was going way too far...Why can't he just leave it alone...?'

Kakashi was sensing some serious agitation and helplessness coming from the restrained missing nin. This was bothering Sasuke more than he had expected. Did he really wanted Naruto to not try and to save him...?

'Sasuke, you probably can't see it and you probably never will, but Naruto is doing this for only one reason: He wants you to live and experience true happiness again. He wants to pull you into the light and let you believe in it again. You can't do that if you're dead and not only that...he loves you more than anyone...'

And the silence had remained in the Hokage's office as Tsunade could only hoped that Shikamaru and Naruto could somehow...make a change...

XxX

At the hospital, Sakura was sitting down in the break room, drinking her some herbal tea in a teacup. God, she needed a break. Running the hospital as the head medical ninja while Tsunade was taking care of other matters sure wasn't an easy job for anyone to handle. She swished the tea around in her cup and looked in it with a solemn expression. So much has happened in one day. A little too much in her opinion.

Sakura had tended to Sasuke's partners and Miyuki and healed their wounds properly. Miyuki had suffered from several destroyed muscle tissues. Luckily for the blonde, it wasn't too sever and Sakura was able to heal her woulds and reversed the effects that the eschars had did on her arms and legs. Jūgo had dislocated his spine slightly during the fight, but it was the only injury he really received besides a few scratches. Sakura had realigned it during a simple surgery and he was good as new.

Karin had gotten a hard chakra-infused kick to the neck that damaged the nerves and the muscles. The red-head wouldn't be able to turn her neck around properly for a while but other than that, she was fine. Now Suigetsu on the other hand didn't suffer from any serious physical injuries; just a few scratches here and there, but he did received multiple shocks of electricity shot through his Chakra Pathway System. He had took in so much electrical current that it actually sealed up some of his Chakra Points. With a little help from Ino, Sakura was able to unseal the Chakra Points and help heal Suigetsu back to perfection, except for a few scratches.

Several hours had passed since she had saw Naruto or Sai and she was wondering what going on. She couldn't really leave the hospital to go see, because they really needed her there to supervise the other medical nin since she was the best among the group. Sakura was sure that Naruto would fill her in on what was happening, but she highly doubts it. When it came to Sasuke, Naruto would never really talk about it around her anymore. She didn't see what was wrong with talking about Sasuke with her. He was still a friend...or was in some way...

This made her wonder. Now that Sasuke was back in the village, what would they do to him for defecting the village? What kind of punishment awaits him once he got to the Hokage's Mansion? She only hoped that Tsunade and Naruto could prevent something serious from happening to him. And then it happened again. A familiar pain formed inside of her chest. She couldn't get over the fact that Naruto was becoming more and more secretive about his life. She understood that Naruto wasn't really like that until Sasuke came back into the picture. Was what the blond hiding from her...?

Several knocks were heard on the door and Sakura had stopped thinking all together. She looked over at the door and wondered who that could be. Whoever it was, she was grateful to them for stopping her from thinking too much. Anymore and she probably would of popped a blood vessel and her being angry would not be a pretty sight for her patients and especially for herself. Sakura got up and walked to the door and she opened it to see who it was.

When she did, standing in the doorway was a tall young man carrying some items and a small brown box. The first thing she noticed was his very thick eyebrows and his perfectly round black eyes that had held so much life within them. He sported a soup haircut and wore a green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers, bandages around his hands and wrists, and wore his red headband around his waist like a belt. Plus, he was wearing his standard flak jacket.

Sakura just smiled brightly at her visitor, "Hi, Lee-san." she greeted cheerfully.

"Good afternoon, Sakura-san!" the youthful shinobi greeted back with a youthful salute filled with undying passion. "I brought those items you asked me to bring!"

"I see. So, how is everything?" The medic nin asked, tucking a strand of pink hair back behind her ear.

"Simply wonderful, Sakura-san! The kids are really embracing the power of youth! I will not rest until every child patient in this hospital is moved by my passion and youthfulness! I promise that one my life!" Lee answered passionately, pumping a fist into the air.

Rock Lee had volunteered to help out at the hospital on the days when he didn't have missions. Most of his days, he spent with the younger children, helping them get back on their feet with walking around and some light taijutsu every now and then to get the kids pumped up and even motivate them to live. Sakura didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Considering Lee and the simple thought of the children shouting his youthful mantra over and over, she took that as a good thing.

"I'm glad to hear that. Such enthusiasm..." Sakura said with a sweet smile. "...although, you might want to tone it down a bit since we're in the hospital..." she giggled nervously, not wanting him to disturb the patients.

"Ohhh..." Lee said, feeling slightly guilty from making so much noise. With a sheepish grin, he handed the items to her. "Please forgive me, Sakura-san..."

"It's quite all right. Thank you, Lee-san..." Sakura said, thanking him for being so helpful and kind to her. Lee was such a gentleman and a strong shinobi to boot. Sure he wasn't the best looking person out there, but his personality and his heart made up for it. He was sweet, caring, noble, pure-hearted, the list goes on and on about this wonderful ninja and a small tint of pink was beginning to surface on her cheeks.

Lee blinked suspiciously from watching Sakura's expression, "Sakura-san, are you okay? Your face is turning pink. Do you have a fever...?"

The pinkette snapped out of her daze and noticed that Lee was looking at her with concern evident in his black, round eyes. Was she...blushing around Lee...? No, that couldn't be. That's...never happened before. Was she feeling all right...?

"Oh no, Lee-san, I'm fine. I think I've been working too hard..." Maybe she needed to rest or just relax for a little while. Working nonstop for hours would take a toll on anyone's body if they didn't get the proper rest. Perhaps she was hallucinating or something...

"Well, I must be off now! I have to get the preteen patients pumped up before the day is out! 100 crab walks around the hospital garden!" Lee shouted out loud again, showing off his signature thumbs up gesture with a familiar glint that always shined on his perfect smile. "Bye now!"

And the youthful ninja left the room with a dash of speed and everlasting fury. Sakura felt a sweat-drop slowly dropping down the back of her head from seeing such actions and went back into the room and shut the door behind her.

Placing the brown box unto the table, she dropped the two manilla folders filled with written documents on them. When she opened the box, she pulled glass tubes filled with dark red blood. Opening both folders, she pulled the patient information and on each one had a picture of a girl on it: One with Nariko and the other with Miyuki.

Looking at the tubes of blood that she had got from them earlier, she gripped them tightly, feeling both discomfort and guilt. God, she could not believe what she was about to do and the medic nin looked over at the analysis machine on the other side of the room...

'Forgive me...but I have to know...I need to know the truth...!'

And she slowly made her way over to the machine, hoping that the DNA test would finally determine who the girls' parents were once and for all...

* * *NEXT CHAPTER SYNOPSIS* * *

The next chapter of Changing Fate is:

Between Right and Wrong
(正邪の間で Seija no Ma De)

At the hospital, Sakura is getting closer and closer to the truth, but something stops her. Meanwhile, Shikamaru explains to Naruto why he took action to save Sasuke...