Title: Rebuild
Full Summary: Somewhat AU. Following Pein's Invasion and Uchiha Sasuke's return, Haruno Sakura struggles to cope as Konoha struggles to rebuild itself. The terrifying, familiar poison of yesterday's past is back. Learning how to trust again is not an easy task - especially when her life is a spin-cycle of betrayal. Bang and beat, rinse and repeat.
Pairing: SasuSaku
Inspiration: Make Me Proud (Take Care) - Drake ft. Nicki Minaj, Vox Populi - 30 Seconds to Mars, Santeria - Sublime, Lazy Eye & Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups, Rainy Monday - Shiny Toy Guns, Guitar Sound & Stay Crunchy - Ronald Jenkees
"The one to appear before him is Sakura. She confesses to him as he tries to leave without looking behind him. She confesses with a blindingly uncompromising mind that does not want to lose him. The one that filled his lonely existence was Sakura. But he cannot let her in. He leaves with just one word of thanks." - Databook 2
"Sasuke, who only had power for revenge, becomes stronger because of his companions. His true place would have been a future among them." - Databook 2
Ever wanna be free? Wanna be god and devil, like me? Ever wanna just stop; do you wanna surrender, or fight for victory?
30 Seconds to Mars
Sasuke woke up gasping, eyes wide and filled with shock. His feet hit the floor and he struggled to reign in his breathing, hunching over the side of the bed, dropping his head into his hands. The vivid dream burned brightly in his mind. For the first time in a while - at least consciously - he had dreamt of Sakura. Sakura alone. All the dreams he had of Konoha were always centered around Team 7, and revolved around them equally... but this one was all about Sakura. Irritation filled him at the thought of dreaming about her, at the signs of becoming weak, and he refused to admit that she had once touched his heart.
But he couldn't stop thinking about the dream. It was intense and completely different from any other dream he'd ever had about her. He dreamt of her in the hospital, gloved hands bloody and scrubs spattered with it, hair tied up out of her face and intense concentration shone from her eyes, and for the first time she was not pleading with him or interacting with him, or crying his name behind him as he left Konoha. For the first time, he was viewing her from a third-person point of view. She worked tirelessly, trying to fix the young shinobi before he passed into the void. She set bones and stitched tissue and vessels together, but his heartbeat was falling fast. Sakura closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds, eyes widening as she felt his heart falter beneath her hands. She pumped chakra into it desperately, shouting orders, something - but he suddenly flatlined and she stood motionless, despair cloaking her in its feathery wings. It almost hurt to look at her. But then she snapped into action, and Sasuke saw hope revive itself and shine brightly in her eyes, and for the first time he was awestruck by Sakura. She surged up and straddled the shinobi's chest, careful to keep her weight off of him as she shot a spike of electrical chakra straight into his heart, and the boy jerked with the electrical assault. To Sakura's horror, he didn't respond. She climbed off the table after five tries and turned away from her colleagues, fighting the tears that were welling up. And then they receded, she turned around, gave brisk orders, and got right on the job. Sasuke marveled at her strength, for once caught up in the dream. His fascination centered around his ex-teammate, and he watched as she walked home, a ghostly spectator beside her. He saw the tenseness in her posture, the balled up fists at her side, and as she finally let herself in to her apartment he watched as she collapsed against the door and sunk down in grief. Sobs wracked her frame and she curled her knees close to her chest, turning to lean sideways against the door, inconsolable. Sasuke's heart wrenched as he watched her, and she suddenly turned green, green eyes on him - and they were so intense and full of deep sorrow and anguish that he was wrenched into reality.
Sasuke sat up fast, breathing hard, eyes adjusting to the complete darkness he was engulfed in. Emotional distress flicked his sharingan on without realization, and once he assessed he was in no danger he slumped back onto his elbows, thinking hard. The dream still had him in its clutches, her burning gaze searing into his mind. He would never forget the way she looked at him, no matter if it was a dream or not. He had never seen her look so alive. He slowly put down the kusanagi he'd instinctively grabbed, red eyes bleeding black. Sasuke let out a rush of air, unaware he'd been holding his breath. He closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep, but snapped them open a minute later with his heart still hammering in his chest. He wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night. He sat back up and gazed around the dark room, flitting over the shuttered window before resting on the spartanly furnished room. The innkeeper had been reluctant to let him rent.
"We don't accept your kind here," she'd sniped, but one quelling glance and the hand on the hilt of his sword convinced the elderly woman otherwise. "Shinobi are bad for business," she hissed after him, but Sasuke paid her no heed. He moved silently into the bathroom, relieving himself and flicking the light on. He washed his hands and splashed his face with cold water, staring at himself in the mirror. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and he stared at the dark circles beneath his eyes. With a snarl he flicked the light off, refusing to stare another moment at his brother's eyes. They looked exactly the same, to Sasuke. There wasn't any trace of Itachi left in them. He'd been both relieved and upset to find that the eyes resembled Itachi in no way at all. The shape of their eyes had been different, but that didn't translate to the actual eyeball. He was still shocked by how sharp his vision was after turning the sharingan off; he'd been legally blind for so long it actually gave him headaches from the perfect vision. He found himself examining every object intensely, captivated by how crystal clear each thing appeared. Sasuke strapped his blade to his waist, deciding it was time to start practicing without the sharingan. Before, not using his bloodline limit was fatal, ridiculous - he couldn't even train practicing. His sight had been so poor that he could not make out faces up close, just heavily blurred shapes and slashes of color. He hadn't had the time to efficiently train without his sight, and was so used to relying on the sharingan. He had to learn how to read opponent's moves without the use of sharingan telling him what exact technique the enemy was about to use beforehand. He slipped quietly out of the inn and headed deep into the forest, carving targets into trees and jumping straight up into the air, eyes closed. His mind flew through calculations and he let each kunai fly, the exact same way his brother used to train. He opened his eyes when he landed. He'd hit every single target, but pleasure did not reach him now. All he felt was emptiness.
In Konoha, Tsunade was shooting out orders like no tomorrow. She barked at Sakura, who nodded jerkily and slipped out the window, racing across the rooftops to inform Hyuuga Hiashi, Akimichi Chouza, Yamanaka Inoichi, Aburame Shibi, and Inuzuka Tsume. She reached Yamanaka Inoichi last, skidding into the clan courtyard. She bent over to catch her breath for a few brief seconds, trying to calm her racing heart. Sakura straightened up and knocked sharply on the door, saluting once Inoichi answered the door.
"Sakura!" Inoichi exclaimed in surprise, "You know you don't have to do that! We're like family, remember?" Sakura smiled warmly in response, but the grin dropped from her lips as she presented the scroll.
"My apologies, Inoichi-san, but it's official business. Tsunade is having a clan meeting, all the clans are to meet at her office now. I can't say anymore until we get there." At this, Inoichi's face turned from pleasant to grim. He gave her a curt nod.
"Let me just inform my wife." Sakura nodded and turned to face the street, head turning to catch the clan head's eye as he closed the door behind them. "Official business, huh?"
"Yeah," Sakura sighed. They both knew that lingering on the topic would open chances to the hungry ears all around, and although Inoichi was burning with curiosity, he kept his mouth shut and eyed his daughter's best friend. She looked frazzled, exhausted, and stressed. Whatever was going on had to be of the utmost importance; the Hokage did not simply summon all the heads immediately on a whim or a small matter.
"So, Sakura... is there anyone interested in Ino that I should know about?" he questioned, blue eyes narrowed. Sakura laughed, grateful joy on her face.
"None that I know of. Shikamaru is currently dating Temari," Sakura provided. At this, Inoichi slumped in relief. Sakura hid her amused giggle. "Even if that boy is Nara Shikaku's son, and a good kid to boot... he's still a boy," Inoichi growled. Sakura smiled, and not for the first time, wished she had a father of her own to try and protect her. But Inoichi was her father, as far as she was concerned. He had thrown joint birthday parties for Ino and Sakura in the middle of their birthdays, and had even taken Sakura out with Ino on their real birthdays. He was a good man; her surrogate father. They ascended the spiraling stairs and burst into the Hokage office, where a solemn line of clansmen stood. Sakura strode across the room to join Shizune while Inoichi filed in line between Chouza and Shikaku. Shikaku had organized the whole thing, and the real meeting was to be held underground, deep in one of the Nara's secret rooms, hidden underneath the Nara compound.
"We've organized a mass teleportation jutsu. Everyone, would you please join hands." Shizune and Sakura muttered the jutsu between the two of them and in a flash of light, they had all been transported to one of the meeting rooms. Sakura immediately began setting up chakra barriers, focusing on sound-proofing while Shizune worked on detection. Once they were satisfied the barriers would hold, they returned to their proper places beside their former mentor.
"Clansmen and clanswomen of Konoha, I bring you grave news. The Council has gone behind our backs, as Haruno Sakura discovered several weeks ago. We meant to hold this meeting far earlier, but we needed to confirm this conspiracy and work out a date and time. Only myself, Sakura, Shizune and Nara Shikaku knew of this information prior to this meeting, for obvious reasons. Nara Shikaku is our top analyst and strategist, thus we presented our discovery to him. He organized this meeting today. Please sit, everyone." The small group sunk into their chairs, confusion rippling through them. Sakura stepped forward, chin held high.
"Several weeks ago, the Council assigned me to a mission. It was a simple, S-Class retrieval mission, the target was to be brought back alive. While this is normal for most ANBU missions, other details caught my eye. It was of utmost importance that he brought back alive, and I was to guard him with my life. Again, slightly suspicious but nothing worry about. This shinobi was rogue. He was in the Council's bingo book, and his home country sought termination. The prisoner did not attempt escape, in fact, he seemed totally complacent. I had a gut feeling that there was more going on behind the scenes. I approached the prisoner and asked him if the Council was seeking to strike a bargain with him. He willingly divulged to me that he held information on Uchiha Sasuke." The room gasped, but fell silent under Tsunade's quelling glare. Sakura still had more to tell. "The Council got extremely unlucky that this mission had fallen into my hands, by random. We would have never known of this conspiracy until it was too late otherwise. If I had not acted on a hunch, there is a possibility this may have gone unnoticed. The Council is trying to get to Sasuke before we do. The Council has been planning to execute Uchiha Sasuke, defying the negotiation. None besides Tsunade-sama, Uzumaki Naruto, Shizune, Morino Ibiki, Nara Shikaku, and Hatake Kakashi knew of this secret negotiation between us and the Council. But since they have broken the rules of the contract, they have broken the seal placed upon all our tongues. The top-secret, highly classified information is now ours to share. The reason Tsunade-sama is pushing so hard for the reinstation and rehabilitation of Uchiha Sasuke as a Konoha shinobi is not based upon favoritism or because Naruto and I have convinced her otherwise, nor is it because he is the last Uchiha and the clan deserves to prosper. The Council had not counted on us receiving the most highly-guarded of secrets. This secret spans back in time, back to when all your children and myself were seven years old. The Uchiha Massacre. Uchiha Itachi is an innocent man. The Council conspired to bring the Uchiha clan down from the inside, secretly operated in part by Madara. They gave Uchiha Itachi his final mission. He was to annihilate the entire clan for the sake of the rest of Konoha - war between the Senjuu and Uchiha was inevitable. They ordered Itachi to maintain the peace. However, he failed in his final mission - he couldn't kill his little brother. He couldn't kill Uchiha Sasuke, because he believed that his brother deserved to finally be able to live a free life, free from the conspiring clans. Uchiha Itachi committed the ultimate sacrifice for his village, and was branded a traitor because of it. We have been working for months to find out how to legally bring the Council down without alerting their suspicion. They are corrupt. I beseech you to join us, you and your clans, to finally bring true justice to the Uchiha clan, and to bring down their corrupt ruling before we succumb to them as well. We cannot let them rule our village any longer." Stunned silence met the three grave women, the heads of the clans beside themselves in shock. They could not possibly fathom the meaning behind the secrets, the most shocking of all they'd ever uncovered. The clan leaders shared the same paralyzed looks, reeling from the possibilities. "Uchiha Itachi died a hero's death. It is only fitting he should be recognized and buried as such." Sakura stood, fierce and proud, amongst the most powerful shinobi in Konoha, and Tsunade eyed her with swelling pride. The nervous, insecure girl from their training days had vanished, replaced with a respectable, beautiful young woman. Tsunade cleared her throat and Sakura fell back in line with Shizune as she stepped forward, tossing a golden ponytail behind her.
"We have called you here today to decide what should be done with the Council. They tried to usurp my power using Danzo, they ordered the murder of one of the noble clans who helped found this village, and have broken the treaty. They are trying to kill Uchiha Sasuke to silence him, because they have already silenced us. I understand and respect your decisions if you cannot stand by us."
"You... you are talking about a coup upon the Council? Tsunade, you cannot be serious!" Aburame Shibi exclaimed, gazing around the rest of the room, silent and stoic. Chouza and Inoichi looked to Shikaku for guidance, who hadn't moved a muscle. He obviously supported Tsunade's stance, and while they weren't too sure about staging the take-over, they trusted Shikaku deeply and knew that he wouldn't even consider anything foolish. He was firmly cemented on Tsunade's side, and for this reason they did not voice their confusion and concern along with Shibi.
"I must agree with Shibi," Inuzuka Tsume spoke up. Her sharp teeth flashed as she spoke, and she darted her eyes around the room. "I certainly do not trust the Council, and believe that they are dangerous - but a coup? It sounds like a losing battle uphill, Tsunade-sama, with all due respect. Many villagers wish to see Uchiha Sasuke executed, and a lot of them will never see Uchiha Itachi as a hero."
"Yes," Shizune stepped in, "that is all true. We run the risk of being run onto the rocks, and while your concern is well-placed - I must agree with it - we have the most powerful clans on our side, if you choose to join us. The Rookie Nine, the new, brightest generation of ninja, your sons and daughters - are powerful allies as well. They are the youth of Konoha shinobi, and they will be well-listened to. People see Naruto as a hero, a savior now, as they ought to. Many people look up to Sakura as well. Together, they are nearly unstoppable. They win admiration and support wherever they go, and they are fresh faces. People will be eager to listen to them... and perhaps they will take the news of the Uchiha clan better than we think. No village wants to believe they spawned and inhabited murderous traitors. Itachi will become the black knight of Konoha, a martyr. We can reunite the Senjuu and Uchiha clans once and for all, if Sasuke is willing to cooperate. These people are looking for hope, and with the oppressive and restricting rule of the Council - not to mention the fear of the Council from the people, they will be aching for the freedom and trust we can provide them with." Nara Shikaku nodded with Shizune's declaration, and as Chouza and Inoichi locked eyes, they made a silent agreement. Inoichi hesitated, but once his eyes fell upon Sakura, his decision was made. They had to bloody their hands now and make the world a better place for the new generation, it was their duty. He thought of his own daughter, and it strengthened his resolve.
"The Yamanaka clan will stand firm by Tsunade-sama," Inoichi announced, and Akimichi Chouza seconded it as well. Shikaku looked at them gratefully, and slowly, one by one, all clan leaders agreed to the secret pact.
Sakura looked around the room, hope blooming in her chest. Hyuuga Hiashi and Aburame Shibi had been the last ones to join them, but they had joined, and that was all that mattered. She could not stop the smile from unfolding on her lips, triumph singing in her veins. They had won the support of the shinobi clans of Konoha. Hyuuga Hiashi stood to deliver his message.
"We, the great shinobi clans of Konoha, cannot allow these aberrations to rule our country any longer. They have murdered our brethren, the great Uchiha clan. Although relations with each other were strained at times and they were our rivals, we would never turn our backs on them. The Council has disgraced and besmirched the Uchiha, and have pushed all the blame unto Uchiha Itachi. They think that they can get by with this injustice, but we must stand and defend our fallen brothers and sisters, even though they fell long ago. I only regret we hadn't found out about this sooner. They have gone too far, and they will not slip away unpunished," he said, words ringing through the room. The clansmen and women stood to formally sign the document binding them together, swearing an oath of secrecy together before they were teleported out of the room. Only Shikaku, Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura were left in the meeting room. Tsunade dropped a hand on Sakura's shoulder, smiling.
"You did well, Sakura," Tsunade said softly, and Sakura felt her spirits soar with the praise her mentor gave her. Praise was hard-won and rarely acknowledged. Sakura beamed bright.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," she blushed, biting her lip and looking down.
"What?" Naruto's resounding exclamation rang over the Hokage monument, sending a flock of birds scattering. Sakura winced at his wild, wide-eyed face, and with a helpless sigh turned to their former teacher.
"It isn't helping us any with you alerting the entire world, Naruto." They'd actually cast a silencing jutsu around the perimeter, but that was another case. Few villagers traveled up here, and coupled with the height above the village it was a great place to hold team meetings. Kakashi crinkled a lone eye at the poor stunned boy, who collapsed against Sakura for support.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?" he asked, pinching himself repeatedly. Sakura rolled her eyes and grabbed Naruto's wrists, firmly commanding him to stop. He complied and finally stopped struggling with her. "It's really true?" he said in hushed tones, large blue eyes imploring. "The Council, the clan-leaders, everything?"
"Yes, Naruto. We're going to find out where Sasuke is." Sakura couldn't help but smile at the hope burning in Naruto's eyes, infectious and carefree. In spite of herself, she let a hopeful grin touch her lips. Not for the first time, she believed that Naruto could do anything. "But that doesn't mean he's going to want to come home." Sakura was back to normal, mouth set in a grim line. "Nor does it mean he'll want anything to do with us." This time it was Naruto who grabbed her wrists, leaned down, placed his forehead upon hers, and stared furiously into her eyes.
"You don't really believe that, do you?" he snarled quietly, eyes burning. Sakura stared back, refusing to be intimidated. The wind blew fiercely around them but they paid no heed to the storm clouds brewing on the horizon, locked in a contest of wills.
"He tried to kill us, Naruto. He tried to kill me. At this point, I don't know what I believe anymore. I'm not going to keep inviting him to break my heart over and over again." Sakura stared defiantly up at him, green clashing with fierce blue. She wanted to trust Sasuke so bad it hurt, breaking her down and building her back up, malevolent and driving all at once. The want, the need for him back in their life was blinding, debilitating. She would gladly chase after Sasuke to the ends of the earth, but she was human, and she could only take so much before it destroyed her. There were other people in her life now, people who were valuable and kind and strong, but she and Naruto could not let go of Sasuke. He was the only thing they wanted, and it was killing them from the inside. Sakura had to know, needed to know, whether or not they could weather the wait, whether or not he could fit back into their lives. But there was no way she would ever know, and torn between staying and walking away, she straddled the fence. She was stuck in an eternal tug-of-war, and there was nothing she could do about it. It would kill her either way if he decided he wanted nothing to do with them. She wanted to believe but it was so hard.
"We've come so far, Sakura. Don't you dare give up on this now." Naruto grasped her shoulders, desperation cracking his voice and bleeding out at the edges. "Please, Sakura." Naruto looked so beat, so faded, that Sakura hesitated. He seemed so strong - to her, Naruto was relentless firepower, always strong and always scorching. To her, he never slowed down, never stopped, never gave up - even when the world was against him. He was the human heart of the body that made up their family, never failing to keep them going, never failing to deliver. But now, up close, she saw the dark circles under his eyes, she saw the fatigue, she saw how he was nearly burned out. She stared up at him, and decided she didn't deserve Naruto. Although she still felt strongly apprehensive about Sasuke, she let that smile curve her lips and decided it was high time she got to shine. Naruto had been running the show for so long, it was her turn to take over.
"For you, Naruto," she whispered, and for once she let all the barriers drop, let all the fears and worries melt away under Naruto's hopeful, desperate gaze. He was rapidly falling and needed someone to rekindle his fire, and she'd be damned if she let it burn out. She smiled at him, bright and blinding, and she closed her eyes, imagining Sasuke as their noble Konoha shinobi once again, and fed her energy straight into Naruto. The blond wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressing her into him so hard and so desperately she felt like they had become one soul, thriving off each other. Kakashi watched from the back, pride in his heart. He'd watched the two grow from the ground up, surpassing Sasuke in their potential and as people. Sure, Sasuke could wipe the floor with either of them in battle, and he'd become nearly thrice as powerful... but he was born into fame and glory, and his reach spread far and wide, with armed thorns to match - like a spiny, long, low bush - but Naruto and Sakura had become Sunflowers. They shot above him in their drive for passion, built on love whereas he fortified his defenses with hatred. They saw what he did not, they saw what he could not. Kakashi felt guilt gnaw at him that he had been blinded by Sasuke, neglecting Naruto and completely ignoring Sakura. She had grown the most out of all of them, he surmised. Naruto's and Sasuke's parents had been powerful, power and force running in their bloodlines. Sakura had built herself from the ground up, grabbing at whatever she could to pull herself up and became a force to be reckoned with. Naruto and Sasuke were already gifted - Sakura was not. He watched as they built the strongest bond of all, intertwined so deeply with each other he surmised to separate was to die. They built the companionship they should have had with Sasuke, and together, no foe stood a chance. Kakashi smiled, because even though he'd failed them - they had attained far more than he could ever hope to achieve. He believed that together, they could reach for anything. The sun, the stars, the sky - together, they were unstoppable.
The clan-heads meeting was so hard and such a struggle to write... I'm proud of everything else but that little insert. Ugh. It's horrible, yet there's no way to make it better.
I really liked the last half though, I really got into it...I'm thinking it had a lot to do with the music - Guitar Sound and Stay Crunchy by Ronald Jenkees. The titles are turn-offs but gaming with them on repeat would be a godly experience.
Happy New Year's, everyone!