Chapter 12: It's Okay
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Karin and Suigetsu took off before meeting back with the rest of the group from Konoha. Naruto, Sasuke and the unconscious Sakura were the only ones to be seen coming back from Amegakure, in which Kakashi questioned this as they gathered around the same tree.
"Kakashi…you once told us something, back when we first became a team." Sasuke explained, "that those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." Yamato looked over at the silver haired nin who remained silent. "To bring Suigetsu and Karin back with me would be like abandoning them." Sasuke explained
Sai smiled falsely, "so that means you regret having abandoned Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan?"
Naruto expected Sasuke to deck the ink user, but instead, they were granted a different response. Sasuke sighed. "Yes, Sai. I do." The raven haired Uchiha shifted the weight in his arms and quickly changed the subject, "We need to get back to the village. It looks like she was drugged before we got there."
Conversation tossed to the wind, the Konoha shinobi made haste back towards the village.
Eyes fluttered open to a warm orange and red light filling her vision. Shifting, Sakura sat up, grasping her head in confusion. Where was she? Last she remembered was being stabbed with a syringe in Akatsuki's prison. She looked around to see ALL of team seven sitting around a fire in a wooden room, with the addition of Shikamaru and Hinata.
"Welcome back." Kakashi stated coolly, but she couldn't hear any disappointment or anger in his words. It seemed that they had set up camp in one of Yamato's ready-made houses, thanks to the artificial bloodline trait of the first hokage.
Sakura looked down. "I'm sorry. I thought I could…" she trailed off, looking up to see Sasuke sitting with the rest of them. Her feelings changed from meek disappointment to vile anger and she suddenly wanted to send his head flying off his body with her fist.
"Sakura, we need to talk." He stated flatly, standing up and reaching out a hand to help her up. Well this was new. She thought, considering his gentleman-like gesture. It had seemed that her run-away had made the Uchiha consider how he should have treated her all along.
He opened the door for her to walk through, then followed suit, closing it gently behind him. Sasuke anticipated her to unleash all her anger on him with loud words and explicatives, but instead, she was unnervingly quiet.
"Well, what did you want to talk about?" she bit at him verbally when they were out in the hallway, leaning her left shoulder against the wall.
"Our…feelings. Our thoughts." He explained quietly.
"I think you made it pretty obvious how you felt before I left, and even Sai would be able to figure out that I hate you." She crossed her arms and glared at him devastatingly.
He couldn't place where, why, or how, but Sasuke felt as if something had broken inside him when she said that.
"You don't mean that." He responded calmly.
"I absolutely do." She narrowed her eyes.
"You don't know what it's like to really hate someone." He lowered his voice warningly.
"Oh please, not this again." She rolled her eyes, "can you stop thinking about yourself for once?"
"Sakura." He stated curtly, black eyes piercing hers with the heaviness of the situation. "I'm not doing that." He sighed, and looked away, running his hand through the bangs of his midnight hair in frustration.
"Well what are you doing? Are you trying to make me not hate you? Because you're doing a pretty piss-poor job."
"Look." He nearly exclaimed, suddenly turning to set his hands on her shoulders, "I'm SORRY. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He looked down, hands sliding off her shoulders to hang by his side.
"Why is it so hard for you to admit that you were wrong?" she crossed her arms, obviously not letting him off easy. Granted, she was surprised by his confession, but she was too angry let it change her mood.
"I don't know. If I knew why, I would change it." he said, looking back at her with sincerity.
Tears began to well up in her eyes, as all the pain he had caused her worked its way to the surface, "Do you understand what you've put me through?" she asked, sniffling as she tried to hold them back from him. "You…you talked about getting revenge on the one who hurt you, the one who ruined your life, and then you run out and do the same thing to the one person who loved you the most." A tear finally fell down her right cheek, "give me one good reason why I should forgive you for that."
He remained silent, then hesitantly placed his hand on her stomach, "Because I realize what my priorities are now, and I want to make this work." He explained, his voice quiet and sincere.
She looked away, pleased with his answer but now concerned with a different issue, "But I told you…about Naruto…"
The raven haired teen let out a sigh, removing his hand from the bump of her stomach, "that's the other thing. That wasn't Naruto."
"What, was that was you too?" she sneered, the anger welling back up in her as if his words were oil to a simmering fire.
"No, that was Madara. Naruto told me that he'd been on a mission during the time you two were supposedly together."
Sakura's eyes flew open wide as her face contorted into anger, shock and fear. "Oh…oh my god…" her fists clenched, and she turned and punched the wall next to her. "God DAMNIT!" She exclaimed, breathing heavily from the internal anger she finally let out.
Sasuke stood there shocked as she gathered her breath. A few seconds later and Naruto rushed out into the hallway to see what had happened, "Uh, I was sent to make sure no one was getting hurt…"
"Naruto…you're saying…that wasn't you?" she asked, her voice quavering with anger.
Understanding what she was talking about, he shook his head and winced his eyes in a sympathetic look, "No. When Sasuke-teme told me I was as shocked as you are."
"That bastard…" she muttered through clenched teeth, and her green irises sparkled with fury. "Naruto… I need to talk to Sasuke a little more." She explained, the anger in her voice subsiding to a simmer.
The blonde nodded and walked back into the room. Once the door clicked shut, Sakura turned to the Uchiha and locked her gaze onto his.
"I will forgive you…under the condition that you help me kill Madara." She said, the pure determination in her face being unlike anything he had ever seen from the girl before. Once a delicate little cherry blossom that used to chase him around—no matter how crudely he would turn her down—now a fierce shinobi who wouldn't go down quietly and let herself be used by anyone, not even him.
She was no longer weak for him, and it made him want her even more.
After the last physical, Sakura slid off the medical exam table with much less agility than before. She could finally go home and rest after the long day. Before the exam, she had a long talk with the godaime, in which the elders repeatedly insisted on imprisoning the girl. However, Tsunade had put up a good fight against the two antiques, claiming that Sakura broke the law to protect the village, and should be given a heroes welcome if anything.
Not that Tsunade believed this, knowing that the pink haired medic had also left to get revenge on Sasuke. The sanin was beginning to agree with the elders that the last Uchiha was more of a nuisance than an asset to be keeping in the village. Perhaps they were right. Perhaps she was getting soft.
Although, the pink haired medic kept in mind that it wouldn't be the last talk. It seemed that if Sakura wanted to get back at Madara, she was going to need the Hokage's permission. She and Sasuke were down to their last chances. One more mishap and both could be imprisoned for life, or worse, put to death.
But for the first time, the two had reached a stable point in their relationship. Sasuke worked to gain back her trust, her love, while in turn, she worked on forgiving him and making things go back to the way they were. It was the first time in years that team seven had actually felt like a close family.
Things weren't perfect, though. Sai and Yamato became increasingly distant, with Danzo summoning Sai back to missions with ROOT. After such missions, however, Sai would often come back to talk with team seven about his confusion between the two philosophies. ROOT demanded no emotion, but all he had learned in team seven had taught him otherwise. Kakashi had reassured him that if he were to use his best judgment, he'd be fine. And feeling better, Sai would leave again until another instance like this occurred.
Yamato had remained in the background, but much less a part of social interaction than Kakashi or even Sai. His main duty was to make sure the Kyuubi didn't break out and to help Naruto keep control of it during intense training, but with the lack of action, he wasn't needed much anymore.
In Tsunade's eyes, Sasuke proved his loyalty and was given a "get out of jail free" card when he came back with Sakura by his side, plus the short stock of information Madara gave Sasuke when they met in Amegakure.
"I believe he's planning to attack Konoha, and your life may be in danger, Godaime-sama." Sasuke explained as he stood before the maple desk, "He wants the head of a senju for taking what he believes was his right to the position of hokage. Furthermore…" he lowered his voice, "I have reasons to believe that he's in connection with Danzo, if not Danzo himself."
Tsunade wrinkled her brow in thought, "What would bring you to that conclusion?"
"The uncanny resemblance in their motives, personality, appearance, and also, it makes sense how Madara got into the village undetected in the first place, enough so trick Sakura into thinking he was Naruto. He had to have been watching her and her interaction with Naruto for quite some time."
Tsunade sighed, "But we have no proof that they've even met."
"If we get rid of Madara we'll know for sure." Sasuke offered.
"Easier said than done." She raised an eyebrow at him, then narrowed her eyes, "You have a plan, don't you?"
"There's one way that will work for sure. If I even look at his sharingan, he'll burst into the flames of Amaterasu. But you know how it is when it comes to fighting Akatsuki."
"Only fight when it's two of us against one of them."
"Exactly. Except the only person who knows Madara's techniques inside and out is Itachi…"
Sensing where Sasuke was taking the conversation, she stopped his train of thought, "Absolutely not. I will not permit you to use a forbidden jutsu to revive Itachi."
"Who says it has to be forbidden? I have the instructions for the ritual, surely you and your team of medics could alter it to one that doesn't require a sacrifice."
Tsunade stood up from her desk to look out over Konoha, "Believe me, Sasuke, I've tried. There have been loved ones I wished to bring as well, but you need a complete, living life source to bring back the dead."
"It's the only way we're going to get rid of Madara without any bloodshed."
She turned to look at him curiously, "You're saying that you left everyone behind, gave up your soul and your life to defeat this guy, and now you want to bring him back? How do you even know what Madara said was true? What if he decides to work with Madara to kill you?"
Sasuke looked down. "Because every time I think of who he was before the massacre, I know that it couldn't have all been an act. And right before he died…" Sasuke swallowed hard. He hadn't wanted to bring it up, but it didn't seem that Tsunade would let him do this if he didn't. "I could see the real him returned for just a second." He looked down, ashamed to let his emotions show.
Tsunade was silent. She knew it was true, that Itachi was a good man. But she was forbidden to tell him. "Is this more about using him to help you fight Madara, or about having your brother back?"
Sasuke looked up with his normal stoic demeanor replacing the face of emotions he had just displayed. "To be honest, both. And Sakura wants revenge on him for what happened when he pretended to be Naruto."
Tsunade raised her eyebrows. What happened? Sakura hadn't gone into any detail about the faux relationship that had occurred before her leaving. From the sounds of it, it had been more intimate than the woman had expected.
"Sasuke…what if your brother isn't what you expect? What if he tries to kill you again?"
"I killed him once, I can do it again." Sasuke stated curtly.
"But you'll need someone with chakra control to perform the jutsu. It would put them at risk as well…" Tsunade trailed off. She wanted to go ahead and give him permission, knowing that Itachi was the best man to get rid of Madara, she wasn't about to tell Sasuke the truth.
"I am fully capable of protecting whoever it may be."
"But you just told me, the rule about fighting one of Akatsuki. Itachi is no exception."
"With all due respect, you don't have to hide the truth from me. I can see it in your eyes, you don't see him as a villain." He said calmly, closing his eyes in his normal arrogant manner.
The woman sat back down at her desk, folding her hands in front of her face. She couldn't very well lie, "…I am not allowed to speak on this matter."
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Take it however you want."
"You know he's not a threat."
"…"
"So let me do this. The third knew it, Itachi knew it, I knew it. The only way to fight the sharingan is with another sharingan."
"Then take Kakashi with you as well."
Sasuke scoffed, "Kakashi is strong, but he knows less than I do about Madara's techniques, and he wouldn't be able to use his sharingan to the amount it would be needed in this fight."
"Sasuke, you know I can't approve this mission."
"Then don't. but don't tell the elders, and let us escape at night."
"I can't give you a medic either."
"I'll take Sakura then. She wants to see Madara dead as much as I do."
"What if ANBU or the elders decide to check up on either of you? I can't protect you if they find out."
Sasuke thought a minute, "…Naruto."
"What?" Tsunade asked.
"He has enough stamina to make clones of both me and Sakura for an extended period of time. He can cover for us long enough."
Tsunade sighed—Sasuke was right. She had to cover all the complications, however, before she'd let him even walk out of the room. "You do realize that you'll have to exchange a human life for Itachi…who will you take?"
"I have access to almost all of Orochimaru's old prisons. Some of them contain real foul criminals that are wanted dead by many nations. But none too strong for me to take out, and Saukra can keep them immobilized with her medical knowledge, I'm sure."
Tsunade looked down, hands folded in front of her forehead, "What will you do with Itachi?"
"I can say Madara revived him, but it backfired and Itachi turned on him. We can tell the village the truth about the massacre and he can take all the credit for killing Madrara."
Taking a deep breath and leaning back in her chair, Tsunade stared at Sasuke, "You've obviously thought about this."
The raven haired teen smirked, "I've had time."
The woman picked up a misson report and looked it over as she continued talking, "If you get caught, I can't stand up for you."
"I won't." Sasuke nodded, and turned to leave the office.
"Sasuke?" she called after him.
"Hm?"
"Make sure Sakura is able to perform the jutsu. If it appears to be straining her body too much, you must stop—it could kill the baby if it gets out of hand."
Sasuke paused, silent, "I'll stop her if that's the case."
"Good." Tsunade nodded, and Sasuke walked out silently. Once the door was shut, she set down the mission report and sighed, turning her chair to face the windows. The sunset over Konoha bathed the whole village in a golden light and illuminated the contours of the stone faces of the hokages.
Sarutobi-sensei…I can only hope that this will be the ending you wished for this clan…
Night began to fall quickly over the village, and Sasuke made haste to the old apartment house where Naruto lived. Upon arriving at his door, he knocked quickly, impatient to leave the village as soon as possible.
"Coming!" the blonde replied from behind the door. Through the peephole, Sasuke could see the light disappear as Naruto looked to see who it was, then reappear as the boy unlocked the door.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked, opening the door for the raven haired Uchiha to step inside. The blonde's face openly betrayed his confusion and surprise at Sasuke visiting him alone at such an hour.
Sasuke walked in, mentally noting with slight disgust at the messiness of the blonde's apartment, yet saying nothing on the matter, "I need a favor."
The blonde looked at him as if he were crazy. "You're asking me for a favor? Hold on, let me savor this moment…" Naruto stood there and closed his eyes in content.
"Save the antics, dobe. I'm serious. I need you to cover for Sakura and I. We're going to revive Itachi so we can take out Madara once and for all."
"Wait, WHAT? Are you insane? What if, what if—"
"I've already gone through all the what ifs. It'll be fine. The only person who can fight Madara and hope to live is Itachi. And I know the truth for sure now."
Naruto was silent, "who told you?"
"You knew?"
"Right before you came back, the elders told us. Was it Sakura?"
"I asked Hokage-sama and she wouldn't give me a straight answer, and now you just verified it. Thank you."
Naruto bit his lip, "I want to come with you."
"Naruto, he has control of the nine-tails. You'd only empower him." The blonde leaned against the kitchen counter in thought while Sasuke continued, "the best way you can help out is stay here and cover for me and Sakura. I need you to make clones of us while we're gone in case the elders send someone to check up on us."
"Sasuke…" he asked in a low, worried tone.
"What?"
"What about Sakura? How are you going to keep her safe while you fight Madara."
The Uchiha sighed, "I won't let her near the fight, and if she seems to be straining herself, I'll make her stop and rest.."
"Good." He replied lowly.
"So you'll do it?" Sasuke asked hesitantly.
"I don't have a choice, do I? And Tsunade-baachan isn't going to cover for you, I assume?"
"No, but she's not going to tell anyone we're gone either. It's up to us to find a way in and out of the village without being noticed."
Naruto's smile grew to that of a Cheshire cat, "That I can definitely help you out with."
After a long conversation with the lady of the house, Sasuke finally convinced Homura Haruno that Sakura's presence was needed quite possibly to save all of Konoha from eminent destruction. The woman let her daughter go quite reluctantly, and several times during the conversation called Sasuke a "user" and a "traitor", and almost threatening to spoil the plan to the elders. But because Sakura was involved, and Sakura would be punished, Homura had no other choice.
It was in the dead of night that their plan would be put into action. Sasuke wasn't quite sure what Naruto had in plan to help them get out of the village, but the blonde assured him that they would be able to walk out of the main gates without an eye to see them.
They waited in the trees and watched as Naruto sauntered up to the desk where Kotesu and Izumo sat guarding the gate. But it wasn't quite Naruto. While still the thick-headed, loudmouthed idiot Sasuke pegged him to be on the inside, the outside of the blonde had dramatically changed from muscle to rounded curves and long lashes. Oh. It was Naruko.
As "she" sauntered up to the two guards, Sasuke could vaguely hear her doing her best interpretation of a drunk woman with no clue how to get home. Overtaken by hormones and the desire to be "gentlemen", the two guards began to escort the scantily clad young "girl" back into the village.
Sasuke had to hand it to the idiot as he watched "her" giggle and flirt with the two blushing men—the jutsu was a distraction, and it did the job. Once Sasuke sensed that they were completely alone near the gate, a blur of pink and black ran out of the village without so much as a hiccup in their getaway.
The two of them traveled until daybreak, when they came across a small village near the border of the fire country. Having trouble keeping her eyes open, Sakura could no longer carry on walking. They took shelter in an inn for a morning siesta until afternoon when they would head out again.
Lying on the mat, Sakura yawned, stretching her arms out behind her and curled up on her side.
"Mmm…goodnight." She said, grinning as she closed her eyes. She would never know that Sasuke was smiling as he laid out his mat next to hers.
"Hm. Good-day." He corrected, but softly, non-woundingly. He laid next to her in the room, and it was the first time since their tryst in the cave that they had really had any time to themselves, this close…this intimate.
Dust particles sparkled as they floated in the sunbeams slipping through the shades. Sakura's calm and even breathing was a peace to his heart that he had never known. Before, he would have pushed her away or slept on the other side of the room, but now, he wanted—no, needed to be next to her, with her.
He thought about what she had said to him while he was still being kept under guard in the prison. He had made it clear that he wanted to marry her, but she had made it even clearer that she would not marry a man that didn't love her.
He wanted to marry her…he wanted to call her his wife, and not for the sake of having a complete family or a woman to watch over the family. He wanted to take her hand in marriage so she could never be taken away from him…so that he could keep her, love her, hold her until death.
Sasuke couldn't believe the sentiment that was arising in his heart, but he was done fighting it. His father, in the very few words of wisdom that he ever shared, had told his Sasuke not to walk in his older brother's footsteps, yet all his life had been spent doing exactly that every step of the way. According to Madara, Itachi had apparently had a lover before the massacre. He had even killed her in his duties, something that Sasuke couldn't imagine. If Itachi really had preferred to kill his lover over his younger brother, then Sasuke wondered what his older brother's definition of "love" truly was.
When he looked at the prime example of happy, loving couple, the first model that came to mind was his own parents. And if it was okay for his father to fall head over heels for his warm, cheerful mother…then maybe it was okay for him to fall in love with this pink headed cherry blossom as well. If his father smiled at his mother and told her that he loved her, then maybe it was okay for him to show those emotions to the woman carrying his child. The Uchiha name wouldn't be weakened, and for all the love and devotion Sakura had shown him in the past, he knew she would never hurt him.
It finally dawned on him—he could be vulnerable around her, and he'd be alright.
He could hold her and it wouldn't burn him.
He could love her, like he wanted to, and he could be happy.
As Sakura hummed in her sleep, Sasuke shifted and wrapped his arm around her, curling next to her, letting her back rest against his chest. She briefly came to the surface, mumbling his name and adjusting her position in his embrace before falling back asleep.
And as he kissed behind her ear, he genuinely smiled, and he liked it.
RA: I hope you all enjoyed that little bit of fluffy romantic-ness between the two lovebirds. I'm really surprised, Chapter 11 took me forever to write, but I had most of this written in a day, then I finished it and cleaned it up a few days later. I'm quite happy with it.
And oh my gosh, you reviewers make my day. I actually fangirl squealed when I read one of them! And I was reminded—the latest chapter (425) now fits perfectly with the prologue D: But I highly doubt Sasuke's actually going to come back to Konoha to steal Sakura away. Wouldn't that be a twist though, eh?
Read and Review! Thank youuuu~!