Sasuke watched as the Iwa shinobi followed their captain and new prisoner. The men who held Kouki threw the younger man onto the ground at Sasuke's feet. Every nerve was alive and a familiar darkness ebbed around his heart.
Kouki struggled to his hands and knees in front of Sasuke, while Naruto called to him softly. "Hey, Sasuke. Let's back up a little bit and figure out how we can get Sakura-chan free ASAP."
Sasuke focused his gaze on Naruto. The blond was now a little bit taller than himself, and broader with lightly tanned skin. The scars on his face still made him look like he was permanently on the verge of smiling or laughing.
Kakashi gave Sasuke's arm one last squeeze before letting go, encouraging him to turn around and face the cottage. His old teacher had aged as well; he was thicker in the face and some of the tension that always seemed to swirl around him had eased away. "There's someone who wants your attention."
Genmei had approached them. She eyed the three men standing before her and looked to the injured one crouched behind them. "That was the young lady you needed me to fix up, eh? No wonder you were so desperate."
"Hn."
"No matter, we should go. I need to tend to that young fool behind you. I think he finally understands that shinobi matters are for shinobi alone." She gave Sasuke a heavy look. "I'd be lying if I said I felt safe to walk back to the village alone."
"Oh right, someone should..." Naruto began, but his voice trailed off as the old woman shrank back. "Oh, you would rather talk with the bastard. Right." He glanced at Sasuke and shrugged. "I gotta talk with my people here. Sasuke, you make sure you come and talk with me soon, okay? They're gonna put shackles on Sakura-chan and that's the kind of thing that puts her in a really bad mood, you know?"
Naruto nodded to Sasuke and Kakashi and headed toward the Konoha ninja hanging back in the trees beyond the cottage.
Kouki coughed and spat blood. "I'm sorry," he said in a hoarse whisper. "Sasuke-san. They came yesterday and threatened my parents. I tried to bargain with them but they were different from the others. That old guy from a couple days ago was more patient. They said if I came with them they'd leave my parents alone. I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to..." Kouki bent his arms in prostration and wept quietly.
"Your parents are alive?" Sasuke asked softly.
"They were when we left. I want to go see them right now."
Sasuke grunted. "You should. I'll take you to-"
"Sasuke," Kakashi interjected. "You really ought stay here and talk with Naruto. You and he can work best together to get Sakura free as quickly as possible. I will escort these two home. I swear I won't allow anything to happen to them."
Sasuke felt torn. Genmei frowned, making it clear that Sasuke was still the only shinobi she trusted. But he couldn't forget the look on Sakura's face as they pulled her away. It made him impatient. He told Genmei, "Kakashi is strong. He'll protect you."
The old woman looked at Kakashi uncertainly. "Are you sure?"
"Aa. He was my teacher. Go with him."
"Alright. Come on, Kouki-kun, get up. Let's go home and get you fixed up, huh?" With Genmei and Kakashi's help Kouki struggled to his feet. While his face was a bloody, swollen mess, his arms were bruised where he had tried to block attacks and it seemed that his ribs may have been broken.
Sasuke stopped them. "Kouki, if they came at you yesterday, why did it take till now to come here?"
The young man hesitated, then admitted. "I tried to lie to them. Someone said you were going to the West so I took them out of town that way. I sent them in all kinds of directions but they said they didn't 'feel' you. I tried to get away but they just found me again and beat me. They got Genmei-san to keep me from passing out or losing too much blood. This morning I couldn't take it any more. I'm sorry," he repeated.
"They wouldn't beat on me because I told them I would curse them!" Genmei cackled. "Curses are for fools but I do know a few herbs that will give them trouble in the bathroom for a week!"
"Hn. Thank you." Sasuke glanced at Kakashi.
The older man nodded and held out an arm to Genmei. She was pleased to take it. "Oh what a gentleman," she exclaimed. "Don't get any ideas, now. I have a poultice that can shrivel up your thing!"
"I would never," Kakashi responded. He turned and the trio headed back to the village. Kouki walked beside them, holding his side.
Sasuke turned back toward his cottage. Shinobi wearing Konoha gear were setting up camp around it, several of them giving him suspicious looks. Several dozen feet past them he could see Naruto talking with a jonin who looked vaguely familiar.
He shut out the dirty looks and walked past the shinobi who were making themselves at home around his cottage. Their speech instantly dropped to whispers as he passed. But he could make out that quite a few of them were impatient to attack the Iwa to get Sakura free. Argument that the Hokage must be planning something was hushed when the speakers noticed Sasuke.
There were also mutters of "traitor," "damned Uchiha," and other such things. Sasuke forced himself to keep walking, feeling like he was making his way through a gauntlet that echoed with insults.
But when he heard "the Bitch Queen shacked up with the traitor" he couldn't help stopping and staring at the man who said it. Around him the shinobi tensed. Silence fell like a thick, solid thing as he locked eyes with a young chunin.
"Alright, alright that's enough!" A matching bark made everyone look to one side and see a tall jonin in a leather jacket and red marks on his face. At his side was a gangly shinobi in an ugly green leotard and equally hideous bowl cut for a hairstyle.
"Hn. Kiba. Rock Lee."
"That is correct, Sasuke-kun! Our teams have been keeping an eye on the border while Lord Hokage works toward a diplomatic end to these troubles!"
"But Captain Kiba!" Protested another man standing beside the chunin who had caused Sasuke to stop. "We can totally take on the Iwa camp! There's more of us and you saw them - we're way stronger, especially with Lord Hokage here!"
"Tsch. Give it up, Shiro." Sneered the first chunin. "The Bitch Queen decided to give herself up." He looked Sasuke up and down. "She's right where she wants to be."
Even Shiro looked at his friend askance and hissed a surprised, "Kenjiro!"
"You guys can just back off." Kiba gave the chunin facing Sasuke a fierce look. "Your Hokage already said to trust him. If you don't trust the Lord Hokage then you can answer to me."
Several of the ninja were startled enough to back away but the chunin in question spat on the ground before turning around.
"That's just Kenjiro. He's still sore from six months ago when Sakura broke his jaw," Kiba remarked.
"I regret, Sasuke-kun, that you will receive many such unfortunate receptions. But if Sakura-san feels that you are changed for the better then I have faith in her assessment!"
"Hn." So they had gotten word from Sakura as well.
"Idiot," growled Kiba. "What we know from Sakura is totally indirect," he told Sasuke. And then he muttered to Rock Lee, without particularly trying to hide it, "and it was supposed to be confidential."
"Oh, that is true, Kiba-kun. Even Naruto-kun could not speak with Sakura-san directly." Rock Lee had his usual, painfully earnest face on, though it seemed less naive, it had lost none of its innocence. "Clearly Sakura-san prefers you after sharing close quarters!"
Kiba rolled his eyes and turned turned to where Naruto was still speaking with a brown-haired man. "Have you met Captain Yamato?"
The name sounded familiar to Sasuke but he couldn't place it. They began walking toward Naruto. Perhaps he encountered him at some point during the war.
Naruto and Yamato turned to Sasuke as they approached. Yamato eyed him carefully and Sasuke understood he was trying to see the changed man that Sakura and Naruto had talked about. That was when Sasuke remembered where he had seen the older man before. "You were there with them, taking Kakashi's place when they blew up Orochimaru's den."
"Yes." Yamato said. "You have a different look on your face now. Maybe you won't stab me this time."
Sasuke took a long breath without letting his gaze fall from Yamato's. "Probably not." He answered quietly. Was every encounter going to be this difficult?
He turned to Naruto. "How are you going to get Sakura out of there immediately?"
"Well actually..." Naruto stretched up an arm and scratched the back of his head. "I kinda need to persuade the daimyo to sign that stupid treaty right away."
"You said you were sure it would be signed!" Sasuke grabbed Naruto at the labels of his coat and hauled him close.
"Hey! Hey!" Shouted Yamato and Kiba.
"It will be, you bastard!" Naruto struggled to push Sasuke off. "I just want it to be tomorrow and the Earth daimyo wants to do it in a week!"
They managed to force Sasuke to let go. "You told Sakura...!"
"I told Sakura-chan 'soon' I didn't know that meant she would give up to the Iwa jerks! There's a lot going on here that I couldn't-"
"You don't understand, you idiot!"
"Oi, oi" called out Kiba, "let's take this inside." He nodded to the cottage. "We're making everyone nervous."
Around them Konoha shinobi had stopped their work and were staring openly as their Hokage got into a shouting match with a man who as recently as 20 minutes earlier had been considered a dangerous rogue.
"Right," agreed Naruto.
"Hn." Sasuke walked beside Naruto. He got the feeling that they both felt restless. He wondered: If they were a few years younger could he convince Naruto to invade the Iwa camps and free Sakura? That was reckless and it would be horribly irresponsible for the Hokage to even consider it...but it was the kind of thing Sasuke suspected Naruto would be excited to do before he remembered the greater needs of his country.
"Hey bastard," Naruto sniffed at the pot hanging over a smoldering fire. "It looks like your breakfast is all mush and your tea is cold."
"We were interrupted."
"Man, you lived in here?" Kiba looked around. "It's super cramped." Beside him Akamaru whined.
"Ah, this is where Sakura-san slept. And this is her shirt. I see why she wore a man's kimono." Rock Lee poked at the bed.
"Leave that alone." Sasuke made a face. He was even more restless with four grown men and a large dog shoved in his cottage.
"Lord Hokage," Yamato called from the door. "This is too cramped for all of us. I will be out here with the others if you need me."
"Yes, Lord Hokage, I do not believe I can aid you from here. I will be outside as well securing the perimeter of our camp." Rock Lee exited.
"Yeah, I didn't get a chance to report in yet." Kiba glanced at Sasuke and then continued speaking to Naruto. "The Iwa shinobi have a launching point about a half hour to the south from here. The river bends there, and they built a small dock to let them take boats back and forth without anyone knowing. They set up a camp there and Akamaru and me saw them coming up here this morning."
Sasuke fidgeted. "They're going to take her. If she's in Land of Earth getting her back won't be so easy."
"Why do you think they're gonna take Sakura-chan instead of holding her till we can get a copy of the treaty down here?"
That was an insightful question from Naruto. Sasuke was somewhat shocked. "They say they want justice but think about what they will be free to do if they find her guilty. Any Earth Country judge who doesn't have that new treaty will call her a murderer and then the Iwa will start torturing her right away for any Konoha secrets they can get out of her."
Kiba ground his teeth and Akamaru growled. "You're sure they'll try to torture her?"
"Nothing short of that will work. One of the shinobi she killed was a very skilled genjutsu user. She found him trying to get me to give him secrets on how to infiltrate Konoha." Sasuke looked Naruto in the eye. "That was why Sakura got involved in the first place."
"Dammit," growled Naruto. "Why didn't she say that in the messages? She just made it sound like the Iwa caught you because you're a rogue."
Kiba groaned that Lady Tsunade had said to keep contact between Sakura and Naruto a secret and here he was telling Sasuke everything.
Naruto laughed and said he never expected to be able to keep it completely secret. Kiba responded that when either of the women got angry with them he would tell them it was all Naruto's idea.
Sasuke could finally see Sakura's game plan laid out before him. On one side she was trying to force him to act rather than run away and on the other side she was trying to make sure that Konoha gave him enough room that he didn't feel cornered. If Naruto and others had known that Konoha itself was threatened with possible invasion they would have descended on the cottage immediately.
And he would have run just as immediately.
Sasuke bent to put ashes on the remaining embers of the fire, and in so doing he hid a smile. He had to admit that was an elegant plan. For the first time he wondered how much of her feelings were true and how much were feigned to serve her plan. She had felt true when she had kissed him back.
"I see you were packing to get out of here, bastard."
Sasuke grunted. "Sakura and I agreed as soon as she was well enough to rejoin her team we would go our separate ways again. We thought that would happen as soon as we finished our breakfast." And we both thought that was the terrible thing hanging over us, he thought.
"But you're still here." Naruto spoke quietly.
Sasuke looked at him and fought back the urge to scowl.
"You're kinda stuck, huh?" Naruto gave a grin that managed to be melancholic. "I knew if you really got to know her - and if she didn't punch you through a mountain - you'd really like her."
"I swore I'd protect her."
"Yeeaaahh," muttered Kiba. "I need to learn the kind of protecting that involves kissing pretty girls."
Sasuke gave him a dirty look and mentally calculated the fastest way to knock him unconscious.
"What?! You kissed her in front of everyone! Rock Lee back there nearly had a seizure!"
"Tsch." To Naruto he said, "I just want her to be fine. Everything else is besides the point."
"Yeah, okay." Naruto sat down cross-legged. "But you should know by now that Sakura is probably okay no matter what. None of the Iwa shinobi I saw could be a problem for her. She's too smart and waayy too strong."
There was a knock at the door and Kakashi's quiet voice.
"Yeah, come in," called Naruto.
Sasuke was again surprised at how well Naruto handled the formalities of being Hokage. He had always been such a casual person and now people called him "Lord Hokage" and didn't interrupt when he spoke... It made Sasuke increasingly impatient.
Kakashi glanced around the inside of the cottage but kept his thoughts to himself. "The villagers are safe in their homes. Kouki's family is alive and relieved to have him back."
"Good." Sasuke and Naruto said in unison.
"Well I told you what I know, Naruto. If you need me I'll be outside too." Kiba made his way outside, Akamaru at his heels.
Sasuke stared after Kiba as he exited and narrowed his eyes.
"What is it? Why are you staring at Kiba?" Naruto asked.
"Hn. Sakura had started to tell me about a mission she was on where Kiba was taken prisoner. But she didn't finish the story."
Naruto and Kakashi exchanged glances. Naruto spoke. "Was it one where there was a tower with a crazy powerful ninja tool?"
"I think so."
Naruto swallowed. "Eehhh... You're probably better off asking Sakura to finish the story. It was a tough one for her. But you gotta remember, she did more than anyone expected her to. She was pretty awesome, and she saved Kiba's life, and probably lots of other people too. But she..."
"Naruto," Kakashi said softly.
"Yeah. Just ask her yourself." Naruto repeated.
Sasuke looked between Kakashi and Naruto. Kakashi sat down on the edge of the pallet opposite Naruto.
Sasuke sat down perpendicular to them. "I know most of the Konoha shinobi here don't like me, but how are they with Sakura?"
His question seemed to catch them off guard. Naruto seemed completely unsure of how to answer. "Ehh, um..."
"Well," attempted Kakashi. "You know, Sakura...well, Sakura is Sakura."
"Yeah! that's right! Sakura-chan is Sakura-chan!" Naruto agreed.
Sasuke made a face. How very helpful. "I heard they call her 'Bitch Queen'."
Naruto twisted and squirmed while Kakashi played with his gloves. "Yeah, I guess some of them do. I don't hear it too often, though." Naruto declared.
"Sakura..." Kakashi sighed. "She's very strong, and very loyal to Naruto and Konoha. And frankly to you as well, Sasuke. When she finds someone who isn't pulling their weight for Konoha or for Naruto she very...ah...firm when she says so."
"That's why she's my right hand man! Uh, woman. She gets shit done, for sure!" Naruto bounced in his seat. "She strong and tough, that's why she's one of the best from Konoha!"
"It also makes her very proud," added Kakashi. He mused as if talking to himself, "she really doesn't like to accept help from anyone."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed in a more subdued tone. "That too."