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: This is War - 30 Seconds to Mars, Ass Back Home - Gym Class Heroes feat. Neon Hitch, The Ballad of Mona Lisa - Panic! at the Disco, Moon Girl - Inna

Mount Nantai: stratovolcano in Nikko National Park; Honshu. Based it on the looks and its location at the ocean.

It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie, the moment to live and the moment to die; the moment to fight, the moment to fight. To fight, to fight, to fight.

~30 Seconds to Mars

Sakura and Naruto looked around at the collected assembly before them; the Konoha Eleven. They stared back with faces varying between shock, anger and horror. Sakura gripped Naruto's hand tightly, fingers finding his in the tension. Hinata tried to ignore it, setting her lips in a thin line. They'd just addressed the elephant in the room - Sasuke. The Council, Itachi, the Uchiha Massacre, everything. The faces staring back at the remnants of Team 7 were dismayed and stunned, nothing close to hope creeping up on their faces, no relief there. Just shadows and sorrow and tension.

"We know," Sakura started, but her voice cracked and she paused, taking a deep breath as Naruto squeezed her hand. "We know that you guys didn't know Sasuke as well as we did. We know you all believe that he's a lost cause, and that we've only been tearing ourselves up for chasing after him. But we're reaching out to you, one last time, because this is our last shot. We know you don't understand how we can love someone who's done all these terrible things, but... we still believe he can change. This is not who he is. The real Sasuke is buried, deep inside somewhere, even if he doesn't know it. All we're asking is for you to place yourselves in our shoes. What if one of your teammates had gone rogue? Up and abandoned you, just like that. Nothing, not even the world could stop you from running after them. You'd do anything for them. Neji, Lee - what if Tenten had left? Would you listen to us? Would you turn your back on her and forget her? Would you stop trying to save her, ever, because you know what the real Tenten is like? Could you abandon someone you loved more than anything? Your team is your family. You save each other's lives. How could we give him up, just like that? I know that you all think we should've killed Sasuke when we had the chance, but... we know he's in there." Naruto gently gripped her fingers, encouraging, supporting.

"But look at Orochimaru, look at the legendary Sannin. Look at what he became. We can't watch you two chase after illusions. It hurts us, to watch you run yourselves to the ground and reach for things that will never be yours," Neji said, and he locked eyes with Sakura. "We're the Konoha Eleven, Sakura, not the Konoha Twelve." Sakura stared right back, undaunted by his declaration. The others seemed to agree with him, but she firmly held her ground.

"He couldn't hurt me, not when we first found him. He sent a chidori through everyone but me, even though I was right beside everyone else. He couldn't kill Naruto, not even with his sword at his throat and his sharingan locking away the kyuubi. And even though he tried to kill me - he couldn't do it. He could've knocked Naruto aside and drove the sword straight through my heart, but he didn't. He's had so many opportunities to kill us, and he keeps on telling us he's going to do it, and that we mean nothing to him... but when it boils down to it, he can't. He can't do it. He still has those bonds, no matter how much he's tried to get rid of them." Sakura lifted her chin in defiance, standing together with Naruto against the world. "If you're going to kill him, you have to get through us first. You'll have to kill us before you can lay a single finger on him. We're family, and we will not turn our backs on him because he is lost." Naruto nodded, blue eyes piercing. Neji turned away, running a tense hand through his hair. They were so stubborn. Yet he couldn't say he didn't admire them - their devotion was endless, their loyalty had no bounds. Though he thought they were in the wrong, it made him hope that someone would one day feel the same way about him as they did their teammate.

"We love Sasuke. And that's never going to change," Naruto said with finality, and they drew closer together. To everyone's surprise, Hinata stepped up, brushing off the incredulous looks from her teammates and cousin.

"I believe you, Naruto and Sakura," she said quietly, and Sakura let go of Naruto's hand and beamed at her. Hinata forgot all about Sakura as Naruto stepped up to her, towering over her.

"Do you really mean it?" he asked, low and rough, and the tenderness and hope there was almost too much to bear. Hinata smiled softly in response and took his hands, stroking her thumbs over the backs of his palms. She stared up into his eyes, letting that smile spread and take over her face as she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. She turned and threaded their fingers together, standing side-by-side next to Naruto and Sakura, facing the crowd. Rock Lee brushed away the tears that overcome his emotions, touched by their declarations, and came to stand by them as well. Ino stared at her team and turned to face her best friend, and smiled.

"Best friends have each other's backs, don't they?" Ino asked, and came to stand by Sakura. The smile that Sakura bestowed upon her was radiant, and while the rest looked unconvinced, Naruto and Sakura had enough on their side to make them reconsider.

"We'll think about it," Neji grunted, and one by one, they filed out of Sakura's apartment.

Karin rubbed the sleep from her eyes, swinging her legs over the side of the bed in mild surprise. Still groggy, she addressed the man at the foot of her bed quite normally with a tinge of confusion, and leaned back against the pillows. She hadn't yet taken in her state of undress - a low-cut spaghetti strap and tiny booty shorts. She kicked back the blankets and yawned, closing her eyes to stretch. When she popped her eyes back open, she was met with Suigetsu's leering grin. She frowned at him, sleep-fuddled.

"What're you doing here so early?" she asked, "and why are you here?"

"I think I need to come here early in the morning more often..." Suigetsu smirked, to which Karin shrieked, finally fully waking up. Her top had peeled up her stomach in the middle of the night, exposing creamy, flat stomach. She pulled the shirt down and glared at him, pulling a large shirt over her spaghetti strap and meandered to the kitchen. "Nah, Naruto and Sakura asked to meet with us." At this, Karin swallowed, meeting his eyes. He looked as nervous as she did, and for that she was glad. She grabbed a mug and began to make coffee, staring shakily at the ground powder, pouring it into the top of the machine. She let out a whooshing breath and turned to face him when she was done.

"What time?" she asked. Unspoken questions raced between the two like wildfire, but neither was ready to approach the subject just yet.

"Ten." Karin glanced at the clock; eight. They had a couple of hours... but it only made the dread mount. It wasn't that they disliked the two, it was just more than awkward. It was difficult. They were estranged by Sasuke, a lot of hurt swirling between them, unscalable and uncrossable. They were in two separate parts of Sasuke's life, and it was impossible to mix the two together.

"Do you know what they want to talk about?" Karin finally spoke up, meeting Suigetsu's eyes. He stared back for a couple of seconds and then looked away, his adam's apple bobbing in his throat.

"Not sure. They said it was important, though. Really important." Both of their minds jumped to Sasuke.

"I wonder what he's doing now..." Karin mused, thinking of the distant Uchiha. It was hard to imagine he'd had a life here, in Konoha. It was impossible not to picture him hard and cold. They couldn't ever imagine him in a team with Naruto and Sakura. They were brighter than the sun. Karin supposed it was also why it hurt so much - she, Suigetsu and Juugo were tiny flames on candles; Naruto and Sakura were wildfires. How does one compare to a supernova or a deity?

"Yeah..." Suigetsu agreed, watching as Karin placed a hand over her heart. She still had scars there, from where he'd plunged his hand into her chest. "Hopefully they can help him." Karin's eyes shot open and she stared at him, both sharing the pain of not being good enough. They knew, of course, that Naruto and Sakura had every right, that they had known and loved Sasuke far longer than them... but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. They felt guilty for hurting, too, and for that reason never mentioned it to each other. Whereas Sasuke had been unable to kill Naruto or Sakura, he'd been able to murder Karin to get to Danzo. That smarted like hell. Karin couldn't hate him completely, however... she remembered the times he'd protected all three of them in turn, without a second thought. She supposed this was what kept Naruto and Sakura going, too. Sasuke was a cruel, cruel man. He toyed and teased just enough to leave you hanging, to leave you breathlessly in love with him, and only left you in the end. It was impossible to fully hate or love him, that they knew too well. When nine forty-five hit, they were out the door, two steaming mugs of coffee left behind on the dining table and their hearts in their throats.

"Come on in!" Sakura yelled, and Suigetsu tentatively tugged on the doorknob and pushed it open, sharing a quick glance with Karin before they both knelt to take off their shoes. They stored them neatly next to the door and stepped farther into Sakura's apartment, catching sight of the living room and the heads of yellow and pink. Sakura gestured for them to sit on the love seat opposite, and as soon as they sat they felt the tension coil in their stomachs. Sakura curled her legs up, tucking them into her chest as she burrowed deeper into the couch. Naruto held his ground, but the muscles in his legs tensed and his jaw clenched before relaxing. "We wanted to talk to you about Sasuke," Sakura said quietly, breaking the ice. She shared a knowing look with her teammate before he continued for her.

"We know where he is."Naruto said bluntly, staring them straight in the eyes. Neither Karin nor Suigetsu were expecting the bombshell. They stared, wide-eyed at the people across from them, and then each other. "Well, not yet. But we know a man who does. We're going to bring him home, and well... we're offering you a place on our retrieval team." Stunned, the two replacements leaned into each other for support. They considered the implications of the offer, and guilt mixed with awe as it sunk in.

Naruto and Sakura were at loathe to offer the chance to Sasuke's team, but they needed all the help they could get, and they knew his fighting style best. They'd sat down and contemplated over it for hours, torn, and even when they made up their minds and presented the question, they were still in agony over the decision. They didn't like seeing proof of their failure to keep Sasuke back home, they didn't like to see that he had made attachments, had built a team that wasn't Team 7. They didn't like remembering that he had picked them over the people who loved him, cared for him, and wanted nothing more than to help him. But once they swallowed the bitterness - at least half of it - and tried to look at it logically, they realized that these people deserved to bring him home too. It was one of the hardest decisions they'd had to make in ages. Sakura stared at the pair across from them, studying their features. Karin had vibrant, beautiful hair, and exotic eyes to match. Sakura felt like a washed-out imitation placed beside her. Sakura tried to see if there were any similarities between Naruto and Suigetsu, and smiled. Nobody could ever dream of comparing to Naruto. Suigetsu was the washed-out imitation here.

"No offense, but... why are you doing this for us?" Suigetsu asked, uncomfortable as he shifted on the love seat. Sakura smiled at him, and she and Naruto's apprehension fell away. They were just as nervous and afraid about it as she was. They were uncertain in whether or not they could bring Sasuke back, and she realized that they were in the exact same position.

"Because he was your teammate, too. Not just ours."

"Sasuke is deep in Water Country," Tsunade said, tracing the rim of cup of tea before her. "Kenta couldn't pinpoint his position exactly, but said he'd been staying around the outlying islands, and often used a great waterfall as his homebase or a safe place to return to. He said the mountain was called Nantai, but he didn't know exactly where it was, just on a small island that bordered the main island of Kirigakure. You will leave in two weeks. Have Suigetsu and Karin decided to come?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said, breathless. She could barely believe it. It all felt so surreal... she only hoped they found him this time, and that they could wrestle him back home. If they didn't... well, Sakura tried not to think about that. She didn't want to delve into the 'what ifs'. She decided that she would deal with it if it happened, but refused to dampen her optimism. Sakura felt conflicted about his return, however. She allowed herself to ruminate over that endlessly; it was nearly all she thought about. It affected her work performance, got to her in the shower, plagued her mind before she fell asleep.

Of course Sakura wanted him back, more than anything in the world... but she wasn't so sure about confronting him herself, seeing him in Konoha, watching him get used to being a Konoha citizen again. (If he came back home). She couldn't imagine talking to him. How could they ever hope to carry on even a simple conversation? Not that he would talk all that much, she surmised, but still. The trust between them seemed irrevocably shattered, damaged nearly beyond repair. It was like trying to build a bridge across a chasm with boards, but no rope. She loved him and hated him at the same time; two halves of her endlessly warring with each other. Half of her ached to run to him, hold him close and never let him go... the other half spat, good riddance. The other half wanted to beat him bloody black and blue, build their relationship up and destroy it within an instant, wanted to feel sweet revenge as she destroyed their fake castle and wanted to watch him fall to his knees as what he believed in fell to pieces all around him. Yet the part of her that loved him could not bear to part with him, and although she still wanted him to atone for what he had done... she would and could not do something so cruel to the person that had already lost everything. She fantasized about his return in the shower, taking turns between ignorance, a fight, and acceptance. Forgiveness was still far on the horizon, as with trust, but her heart never strayed far from the shore. It was a horrible paradox, torn between love and hate. She wished to be like Naruto. Sakura knew he would forgive and love Sasuke like he'd never left, though he would be smart enough to withhold his trust until Sasuke could prove his worth. She longed for the acceptance Naruto so easily gave, the forgiveness, the never-discriminating love. But Sasuke had not broken Naruto's heart in the way he had broken Sakura's. He still broke it nonetheless, but Naruto did not hurt the same way Sakura did. It was truly a dirty battle, and Sasuke had plenty of cruel and filthy tricks up his sleeves.

Sometimes, Sakura wished she'd fallen in love with Naruto instead. Life would be so much easier, she mused. A faint, wistful smile came to her lips as she kicked her feet up on the coffee table. If only she could've returned his feelings... but that wouldn't be fair to Hinata. Hinata deserved Naruto much more than she did, Sakura thought.

Most of all, Sakura realized, she was scared. She hated admitting it - who does, really? But it was the cold, hard truth. She was afraid that they wouldn't be enough, that she wouldn't be enough. She was afraid that he would come back just to break them all over again, ruin all they had rebuilt in one fell swoop. She was afraid that once he came back, she would never be able to move on. She was afraid of everything about Sasuke, terrified beyond belief. He had broken her so easily and he could do it again. No matter how strong she built her defenses, her assault... it would always crumble to pieces for Uchiha Sasuke. She was afraid that their relationship was unfixable, afraid that he would never truly return to them. Sakura gave a heavy sigh and curled up with a pillow, turning the TV on to take her mind off things. She was used hurting over Uchiha Sasuke, and today was no different. It was sad it had come to this - so used to the stabbing, burning ache that she could push it away and focus on other things. She tentatively hoped, because Sakura could not truly keep her heart at bay.

The insatiable need to protect Sasuke ate them away, both Naruto and Sakura. They would sooner die than let the Council, the kages, or the world get to Sasuke.

Deep in Water country, Sasuke reflected. He hadn't realized how empty, how lonely he felt. He surmised it had to do with the fact that, for the first time in life, he was utterly, completely and wholly alone. Back in Sound, he'd had Kabuto, Orochimaru, and slaves for company. He had Team Taka after that, then the Akatsuki and Madara... but now, he was finally alone. It was half peaceful and half disturbing, and now that he finally had the quiet and solitude he'd yearned for, he wasn't sure if he wanted it anymore. It made his mind wander, made him think about things he didn't want to think about. His life back in Konoha, for example, his brother, the price of treason and treachery. Uchiha Sasuke was finally grasping at the straws of humanity... but sense had come too late. There was no one he knew in Kirigakure, nobody familiar. He refused to call it loneliness, deciding he was having a fit of weakness, attributed to the physical strain the implant put on his body.

He ignored the fact that he was lying to himself, tried to conceal it behind ailments and exhaustion... but he wasn't any good at convincing. He gritted his teeth and looked up toward the cloudy, gray skies and waited for the rain. It came soon enough, quickly racing from a light, pleasant drizzle into a thundering downpour. Before, the rain had been cleansing, washing away all his memories, all his regrets, all he'd ever done. It had made him feel clean, a blank slate, washed free of Naruto and Sakura and their tenuous, stubborn holds. But he'd only watered their roots and they had regrown, each time entwining so deeply around him he couldn't cut himself free. Not that Sasuke knew it, of course. This time, the rain was ineffectual, and only seemed a reminder as to how lonely and hollow he'd become. The rain made him remember everything, not help him forget. Sasuke trudged to the waterfall, mindlessly blowing a swift katon to light a fire, sitting with his arms locked loosely around his knees, feet spread wide. He stared into the fire until it burned out, until the last embers went out and he was plunged into total darkness.

Sasuke didn't get any sleep that night. He stared at the ashes, the charred remnants of wood and branches, and reflected.