Chapter 6: Many Meetings
Sunagakure
Four years ago
Gaara stared with disbelief at a piece of scroll that was delivered in haste so early this morning. He himself couldn't accept the fact that what killed Uchiha Sasuke was a great combustion inside the lair of the meek assistant of the Master he, Uchiha Sasuke, had killed with no mercy.
After months to almost a year of searching, Konoha found the remains of the last Uchiha all burnt up to dust.
The Kazekage slammed the scroll on his desk and rubbed his temple with both hands in an attempt to accept the grave news.
There was no redemption for an avenger after all. Sasuke had died as soon as his revenge was played out. True enough, he lived only for the sole purpose of avenging his clan. But had he redeemed the name of the Uchiha? History could only be the judge for that.
"Good morning, Kazekage-sama!" Gaara cringed at the lively, sweet voice that filled his office; he cringed even more knowing to whom that voice belonged to. Instinctively, he snatched the evil scroll and rolled it away.
"What are you doing here, Haruno?"
"Ooh, someone's grumpy today," the other chimed. "I brought you breakfast, as usual, Kazekage-sama."
"I told you, you don't have to do that. And stop calling me Kazekage-sama."
"But, Kazekage-sama, if I don't bring you breakfast, you won't treat me to dinner," she joked, yet he could only smirk. His indifference, however, led her to push further. "Is there something wrong, Gaara?"
The medic nin had been with them for three years, and through those years, she had been a part of the family. During her first year, when Hatake Kakashi had delivered a weak and bloodstained Sakura, fresh from labor, on their front steps, the Sand Siblings took her in with no questions asked.
Official transfers were immediately done by the two Kage, and Sakura recovered through non-stop working. Gaara mused that this was her own defense mechanism.
This time, he could only guess what her reaction would be once she learned of Sasuke's death. Whenever news of Sasuke's victory over the Konoha elders reached them, she would only have that bittersweet smile on her face as she whispered, "Only a matter of time…"
Gaara knew she continued waiting for him. Although he could never understand her devotion for the Uchiha, he thought of it as something good. Sasuke's salvation. That maybe, after everything he had done and everything he had been through, still he must have done something good to deserve her.
"Gaara?" he blinked as he got out from his small recollection. "Is there something wrong?" she repeated.
"Sorry. I'm just a bit preoccupied. Thanks for the –"
"Oi, Gaara, is it true?" As if things weren't worse enough, Temari and Kankuro had to burst into the office the very instant that Sakura was still there – and at the very instant that Gaara himself was coward enough to tell Sakura the truth.
"Is what true?"
"Oh, Sakura," gasped Temari, "you're here."
"Hey, Temari, what's up? Is there something wrong?" She asked for the nth time. No one made a move to open their mouths, but their eyes were pinpointing who should spill the news.
Exasperated, Sakura threw her hands up to concede. "Okay, I get it. You can just say it's some classified Suna business, you know."
"Sakura," Gaara called just as she was about to walk out the door. He held the scroll out towards her. She reached for it, and slowly, slowly opened the scroll, as if she knew that it brought news she didn't want to hear.
He could see her eyes skim through the letter, up and down, over and over again. He could only guess what she must've felt at that very instant as her stoic face revealed none. She was so good at that. Through time, she had learned to hide her emotions. To the people who had just met Haruno Sakura, they knew her to be a sweet woman, yet cold enough to block out the gravest news.
"They didn't…" she finally uttered, her voice being the only sound against the tensed atmosphere. She rolled the scroll up and handed it back to him.
"Kazekage-sama, I ask for three days off duty," Sakura promptly requested. "I'll be going to Konoha."
"By all means, Sakura. I'll give you a week."
Kirigakure
Present
After Gaara left for the meeting with the council, Sakura washed the dishes they used for breakfast and did a little cleaning before she contemplated on her plan of action. She had given her word that she'd be at the banquet tonight. Maybe going wouldn't hurt so much, anymore. Ignoring Kakashi wouldn't be so difficult probably; if he wouldn't be pursuing her all night, it wouldn't. Although, knowing her old sensei, she bet he'd be doing just that.
It had been years, four years exactly, since she had seen him. And their parting was memorable in a bad light.
A part of her wooed her to end this drama with Kakashi. After all, he had only got caught up in her own grief. And during that time, it was both of them who were broken with Sasuke's death. Naruto didn't harbor any anger at the Hokage's decision to finally accept the evidence found at Kabuto's hideout as the remains of Sasuke, did he?
"Do you believe that, Kakashi? Sasuke being dead?"
"Yes, I do. If not, then there's no more point of searching for a man who doesn't want to be found, is there? You, of all people, should understand that. You've been hiding from your daughter so much so that you'd like her to think her mother's dead."
With a deep breath, as though to exhale all those bad memories away, Sakura willed herself to get out of the house and get some fresh air.
The town proper of Kirigakure had long since reinvented itself from the age that the village's shinobi had barbarically killed each other; long after the age of the Mist's seven swordsmen were feared.
Now, we see a thriving village in peace and in fog. Commerce was a lot democratic now, unlike then when it was once monopolized by feudal lords and corrupt warriors. Traders came and went, supplies had been more consistent, and villagers were more affluent now that they had means to sustain their needs.
All in all, it was far from the village Momochi Zabuza had recounted to the young Team Seven once upon a time.
The peace and order were something that appealed to Uchiha Sasuke, in a sense that roaming the busy streets with face almost all covered up was something not to be easily suspected by guards. Although the hidden village was pretty much active in the previous war and had advocated for an all-out fight against the Akatsuki even afterwards, the news of his death, however made them complacent.
Never did they surmise that Uchiha Sasuke and the rest of Team Taka walked through their town for almost a year now in hooded glory.
"I'm done. Let's go?" a voice behind him whispered, while he surveyed a few shuriken in one of the stalls.
"You have everything we need?" he asked, turning around.
"Yes, it'll last us a week," replied Karin, as she held one of the baskets for him to carry.
After fixing his cloak to hide a significant amount of his face, he led Karin into the throng of people doing their weekend errand in the busy marketplace of Kirigakure.
Ironically, this village had been too lax it could be the end of it, given that this very village had once been tricked and ruled by Uchiha Madara. Sometimes, peace could make people forget easily. But no one's complaining, right? Certainly not him. If this village's weak military system and lack of awareness allowed him to continue living in secrecy – and in peace – he'd thank Kami-sama for this blessing.
So until he's ready to take on Kabuto, he'd stay put.
Team Taka had been nomads since their fight with Kabuto. They've travelled all throughout the five major countries and some few others. To lower the risk of detection, they travelled in pairs, going to a similar destination through different routes. It was only now in Kiri did they get to stay longer.
Suigetsu, having been born and live in this village all his life, knew this one place that could shelter them. High up in the karst mountain ranges of Kiri, where very few to none inhabited the area, was a perfect hideout. Rogues, however, were known to pass through these barren hills; but Team Taka could handle that. Evert now and then, Mist shinobi patrol the mountains, but Sasuke had learned Kakashi's fuinjutsu back when his old sensei housed them in the forests of Konoha. Thus, genjutsu pretty much took care of that.
It was very much convenient for them. Travelling down to the village only took an hour of hiking, though it was only once a week that they need to go down.
Sasuke stopped short when he notices Karin froze beside him; simultaneously, the latter suddenly dropped her basket to the ground, their supplies tumbling about.
"Oi!" But Karin was just staring ahead, mouth agape. He followed the direction to where her eyes were glued to, but found nothing that could, or should, incite such a reaction from her.
"What is it?" he insisted, grabbing hold of her shoulder to get her attention.
She did get out of her reveries. "Oh, Sasuke-kun. I'm sorry; I was just feeling a bit fuzzy today." Karin clumsily knelt to pick up the produce they bought that scattered on the ground, and in an attempt to hide the still dumbfounded expression on her face.
Sasuke, with her eyes as sharp as a hawk, didn't miss that, however. Even her panicky gestures revealed that something was off.
"Karin," he warned.
"Let it go, Sasuke. I'm tired, I wanna go home." Her sudden cold demeanor made him bit his tongue, preventing him to inquire further.
"Hn." He chose to do she said, however. He knew that should she have sensed anything that could endanger them, she would always alert him. Still, Sasuke would find out whatever it was that Karin was hiding. Maybe later this evening, he'd do a little sneaking.
In the meantime, he'd silently follow Karin back to the mountains.
It took Sakura a dozen changes of outfit until finally she yielded to the very first set she had decided upon. Gaara had tipped her that tonight's gathering would be quite formal since the Mizukage had extended the invitation to the daimyo. It's not every day this village welcomed two Kage in ordinary days, the Mizukage had said.
And so, during her walk today, she happened to pass through an elegant kimono shop. Buying was fine with her, since her kimono was left at Suna.
She had chosen the one with the simplest design; but still, she felt that she was overdoing it. In the end, she didn't have a choice but to wear it anyway. Sakura inspected herself in the mirror and hated how her pink bright hair blended so well to the contrasting midnight blue cotton, embroidered with pale orchids. Her obi was red, accentuating the perfect contrast.
There was no chance of switching to plain Haruno Sakura clothes, though, for there was finally a knock on her door. That must be Gaara, picking her up, she thought. With one last look at herself on the mirror, she reluctantly picked her pouch to leave.
Sakura was greeted with the sight of Gaara in his usual Kage robe plus an umbrella on his left hand.
"You look nice," he complimented. "It's all right for you to be walking around in the rain like that, though?"
In response, she huffed an irritated sigh. "You know what, wait for me inside and I'll just get a quick –"
"I said you look nice, Haruno. You're lovely. And, we're late," Gaara reasoned out as he caught Sakura from going back to her room. Gladly, she gave in.
"Fine. Let's go, Your Highness." And before she took a step out of her doorsteps, she was halted by a sudden hand stretched in front of her, revealing a small golden kanzashi adorned with trailing wisteria vines so petite it was whimsical.
"Your outfit won't be complete without a head dress."
"Gaara." The backdrop of the evening seemed to intensify its darkness as Sakura's porch light glowed a bit brighter only for the two off them. The man standing before her reached out, with hesitation manifested through his slow gestures, and little by little pinning down the kanzaki stick on to the side of her head, locking it to the neatly arranged bun. The curtain of wisteria blossoms fell to her ears, along with a few unruly short strands.
Her breath was caught painfully at her throat as he saw him gazing down at her as though his eyes had already given her his heart, so soft and heartbreakingly solemn that Sakura could barely recognize him.
"Gaara…" The unsettled issues awaiting her tonight were all forgotten due to his subtle display of affection. In that very moment, all she could see was Gaara's serenity, warmth and eyes that could melt her own being, eyes that whisper she would forever be cared for.
The trance, however, was broken when she was about to speak. "Come on, let's get going," said him. And she knew, he wasn't ready to hear whatever it was she was about to say. Not again. It only pained her to see that he was willing to continue feeling for her even after she had declined. To see someone love her from a distance was something that tugged her heartstrings, wooing her to try again and yet her own heart kept telling her she never could.
Karin was sitting at the corner of their living room in a tiny shack that Team Taka had claimed residence for a year. She was sitting very still, yet her mind was in a rampant. The moment Sasuke announced he was going out just before dinner, she already knew what he had in mind.
And the thought of Sasuke discovering what she had learned that afternoon in the marketplace made Karin restless.
Out of nowhere, she had felt a very familiar chakra as they were both walking back to the mountains. She knew to whom that chakra belonged to, knew it so well enough that the fact that Haruno Sakura was within a radius of several hundred meters from where they were standing allowed Karin to panic.
Simultaneously, she had checked for other signatures that might have been nearby. True enough, there was Hatake Kakashi's signature, but quite distant. Her better judgment had told her that she should have told Konohagakure's medic nin and the Hokage himself was in town. But it had been years since they had heard of them. And this kind of news could, no doubt, make Sasuke go back.
The last news they have had about anyone from Sasuke's team was when they saw that black-haired shinobi, his name was Sai if she remembered it correctly, holding a pink-haired kid while the team was scouting near Konoha looking for information about one of the elders years and years back.
Everyone knew who that kid's mother was, everyone would know just by looking at her hair. After that incident, no one had mentioned anything about Konoha ever, except when it was information about the elders.
This time, she didn't dare tell Sasuke about this. Because Sasuke would definitely go back to her just when Karin had been living on the hope of him warming up to her.
But little did Karin know that at that very moment, Sharingan eyes were activated to watch so intently at the situation just a few meters away. Sasuke was surprised to see the Kazekage in the town proper of Kirigakure. This might be what Karin had sensed, he had thought. Gaara must be in a business meeting with the Mizukage. But why Karin had not disclosed this information, he could only guess.
And so, Sasuke quietly followed Gaara, and was even more surprised to see the person who attended to the Kazekage's knocking.
It was Sakura, in a dazzling kimono. But what confused him more was the private moment unfolding in front of his Sharingan eyes. He couldn't see what Gaara was saying for he had his back to the Uchiha. But he could clearly see her face, her glowing eyes, and that kanzashi that perfectly sat on her hair.
He watched as Sakura tucked her hand to the other's elbow, and they shared an umbrella as they walked away from her apartment. Sasuke waited, and later followed.