Chapter 10 – United, undivided.
Warning: Time skip and unhappy-ish events.
Sakura stares with wide eyes at the Hokage. She is standing in his office, with Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Itachi and Fugaku. Tsunade and Jiraya are standing behind their teacher.
She couldn't believe what she just heard. "You can't be serious, old man!" Yells an angry Naruto.
She looks at Sasuke to see his reaction to all of this and finds that he is surprised beyond belief.
"I am serious about this, Naruto. I'm also serious about stepping down this month and having Tsunade as the Godaime Hokage." Announces Hiruzen.
Sakura turns to look at her mentor and doesn't see her surprised. It means that she knew. Sakura expected this though. Hiruzen is getting old, and he wouldn't have survived if it weren't for Tsunade punching Orochimaru's ugly face and Jiraya cutting off his arms.
"But, what if he finds out? He'll kill Sasuke!" Says Sakura.
"That's why Sasuke is going to make sure that he doesn't find out." Says Jiraya. He knows that Tsunade couldn't comfort her apprentice right now, so he decides to speak for her.
"But he is one of you guys! A sennin! Sasuke will be in danger!" Yells Naruto.
Before Jiraya could say anything to his godson, Sasuke speaks up, "I'll do it."
"WHAT!" Yell both Sakura and Naruto. The older shinobi in the room already know about this. They've already discussed it with the Hokage, and then brought the kids in to tell them.
"I'll do it." Repeats Sasuke. Then, he adds, "I can do it. I won't communicate with anybody from the village unless absolutely necessary."
"Why would you do such a thing?! You could stay here! With us!" Says Sakura with tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.
"You teme! Look what you've done!" Yells Naruto.
"I want to do this." Says Sasuke. He hates the fact that he is making Sakura cry, but he has to let them understand.
"Why?" Whispers Sakura.
"Because I don't want to be left behind." At the confused looks on his teammates faces, he elaborates, "You two are training under legendary sennin, you will get stronger, but I won't. I would have to stop at a limit, but you two don't."
When he puts it that way, Sakura understands, but she doesn't like it. Not one bit. And it shows in her eyes. She has never been one for hiding her emotions or thoughts. But Naruto still looks like he doesn't get it.
"We can't have the dead last beating the rookie of the year, now can we?" Says Sasuke with a pointed look in Naruto's direction.
And just like that, a light bulb turns on in Naruto's head and he gets it. Sasuke doesn't want to stay behind in his abilities. He wants to be strong just like the rest of the team.
Naruto nods and Sakura averts her eyes in defeat. She can't do anything to stop him.
"Then it's settled." Says Hiruzen, "Uchiha Sasuke, you are to go on an S-classed mission to Orochimaru's hideout, train under him, and when you deem yourself strong enough, you are to send us a message of your location and we will send backup to assassinate him. And you are to find out how to remove that cursed mark from your neck." He turns to Sakura, "I know this is hard for you to understand, Sakura-chan, but Orochimaru is a powerful shinobi and his skill must not go to waste." Sakura nods with her head still down. He sighs but then continues, "Sasuke, you are going to go with Inoichi to have him build a barrier in your mind so the seal doesn't cause you madness. You leave after ten days at dawn."
Sasuke nods.
"Dismissed." Says Hiruzen.
Before anybody could blink, Sakura is out the door and running towards the Hyuuga compound.
She couldn't take it.
First her mother.
Then her father.
And now Sasuke.
She graduated last year and got to be on a team with Naruto and Sasuke, just like they always wanted. They were happy with the way life was going; even with what happened on their C-ranked-turn-A-ranked mission, they were happy.
But then came the chunnin exams, and that's where everything went downhill.
Orochimaru bit Sasuke in the forest of death. They couldn't do anything to help because he was simply too powerful.
Then, in the third round, she didn't even get to fight her opponent. Sound and Sand attacked them.
They held up pretty well, but there were some causalities.
Her parents were from those causalities.
From what she could tell in the haze that filled her mind when she found out, was that her mother had been attacked, and Kizashi was there in time to help her. Everything was going fine. That is until a shinobi from Sound sneaked up on her mother and stabbed her from behind. She dropped unconscious but Kizashi thought she was dead. In his rage he tried killing everybody in his path by using a jutsu that she doesn't know of. He got what he wanted, but one of the enemies managed to throw a last ditch attack to take Kizashi down with him.
Kizashi went into a coma, and soon Mebuki died from blood loss.
Sakura had been staying at the Hyuuga compound ever since.
It was a hard hit for the kids. They were all attached to the couple, and they considered them as second parents, and some of them considered them the first. Naruto was devastated.
But that is nothing compared to Sakura. She was beyond devastated. Neji had to 'kidnap' her from the hospital room her father was staying in, in order to have her bathe and eat.
That was about two months ago. Now she is either in the hospital, or sticks to Neji like glue. Not that Neji minds. In all honesty, he prefers it this way. He is able to keep his eye on her. He was also crushed by what has happened.
The Haruno's were the main factor in his comforting life and family relations' mending.
He just hopes that Kizashi pulls through. If he doesn't, he wouldn't know what Sakura would do. Heck, he wouldn't know what he would do.
Kizashi is the closest he's had to a father after Hizashi.
…
Sasuke and Naruto make to run after the girl, but Itachi stops them.
"Let us go!" Yells Naruto.
"Nii-san!" Says Sasuke.
"She needs time. Let her come to terms with what's going on around her and then talk to her."
At the pained looks on their faces, he sighs, "I'll take you to the Hyuuga's after dinner. Good enough?"
The boys nod reluctantly.
Sensing that the grownups have something to discuss, Itachi says, "Why don't we go get Shisui and have some ramen?"
And just like that they're out the door with Naruto cheering for ramen, and Sasuke sulking.
…
Neji was in his room, reading a book, when Sakura nearly broke his door off its hinges, came in and slammed the door with all her might.
Neji looked at her. She was standing with her back to him. Her shoulders were shaking and her hands were balled into fists.
Putting the book down, Neji got up and approached her.
"Hime?"
Sakura smiled a tiny smile at the nickname. It's been almost 7 years since he first called her that. And he still does.
Feeling his hands on her shoulders, about to turn her around, she whirls around and smashes herself in his chest, with a force that almost knocks him off his feet. Neji stands his ground and brings his arms around her while she cries her heart out. Alarmed he asks, "Is it Kizashi-san?"
Sakura shakes her head and feels Neji sag in relief in her arms.
It's okay. Whatever it is he could help her through. Anything but Kizashi's death.
He rubs soothing circles on her back as he guides her to his bed. He sits down and pulls her onto his lap and she buries her head in the crook of his neck and bunches up the front off his shirt and sobs even harder. Neji begins to rock back and forth till her heart wrenching sobs subsided to quiet sniffles. That's when he decides to ask, "What happened, Hime?"
And so Sakura began telling him about Sasuke's mission. She was mostly blabbering and a lot of her words weren't understandable to most people, but Neji's had experience making out her words from the past two months, since she wakes up almost every night with nightmares. She had the room down the hall, and she used to come into his room when it happens. When Hiashi found them out sleeping in Neji's room on more than one occasion, he told her to stop, as it is inappropriate. That's when Neji started to sneak into her room at night. Hiashi, seeing that it's no use separating them, and that Sakura needs Neji by her side, gave up. And being the devious shinobi that he is, Neji moved Sakura's belongings into his room. So now it was their room.
As Neji listened to her talking he got angrier by the second. How dare that Uchiha do that to her? He knows how it will affect her. They all decided to stay by her side since her mother passed away, and just as she was starting to accept the idea of healing, the brat does something like that!
Never mind that Naruto is going on a training trip with Jiraya. Everybody understands that he is in danger because of the Kyuubi, Sakura even encouraged the thought because she saw the Akatsuki when they came for Naruto. She wants him safe. But this with Sasuke is different. He is throwing his self into danger. If it was an ordinary training trip she wouldn't be hurt so bad, but going to Orochimaru with the knowledge that he wants Sasuke's body is just too much for her to handle.
Neji tightens his hold on her but doesn't say anything even when she stops talking. She cries for another half hour with Neji tucking her under his chin and rocking her back and forth.
When she stops crying he bends so his mouth is at her ear, "Don't worry, Hime. It's going to be okay," He says as he rubs her back and arms, "It's going to be alright. He has the Hokage, the future Hokage and sennin, another sennin and the eternity of the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clans to support him. If anything happens to him we will all go and help him. Okay?"
Sakura nods against his chest but still doesn't raise her head to look at him.
"And I'll make sure to mope the ground with him before he leaves." Says Neji with a smirk.
At this Sakura raises her head to look at him. His eyes soften when he sees her swollen eyes, red puffy cheeks and tear streaked face. He leans in and starts kissing the trail of tears from her left jaw line till her eye, while holding her in place by her neck. He could feel her pulse quicken beneath his fingers, or maybe it's just his pulse that he's feeling. They've never done anything like this before.
Sure they kissed each other on the cheeks numerous times, but this feels more intimate than anything they've ever done.
He reaches her left eye and she closes both of them. He tenderly kisses her left eye and then trails kisses across her adorable forehead, and reaches her right eye. Kissing it he makes his eyes down to her right jaw line. Then he backs about an inch from her and hovers above her mouth. Should he do it? Is it okay?
Sakura opens her eyes when he backs away, and looks at his eyes as he looks at her mouth. She knows him enough to know that he doesn't want to force her, and he doesn't want to take advantage of her.
She smiles invitingly at him, and that's all he needs.
He kisses her lips chastely at first. It is both of their first kisses, and they don't really know exactly what to do. But they read enough romance novels to make it a good memory.
They start moving their lips slowly against each other, until Neji bites Sakura's lower lip and she gasps.
"Ahem."
He hesitantly sends his tongue into her mouth. Sakura brings her own tongue out shyly to meet his.
"Ahem."
Neji angles her head to have more access, and brings Sakura closer to him.
"Uuuh .. Guys?"
Sakura brings her arms around Neji's neck.
A whistle.
And just like that the two separate from their kiss but stay in each other's arms. They turn to look at their intruders, to see Shisui and Itachi standing near the window.
Shisui has a big stupid grin on his face, and he was the one who whistled. Itachi was standing next to him with his arms crossed, an eyebrow raised and a throbbing vein on his forehead.
Sakura's face turns as red as a tomato when she comprehends that her brother figure and her sensei caught her practically making out with her boyfriend.
Neji on the other hand, merely raises an eyebrow in challenge to the Uchiha's.
"I would appreciate it if you refrain from doing such things with my sister until you two are wed at least." Says an aggravated Itachi.
"And I would appreciate it if you enter from the door and knock on it before entering. And I would also appreciate it if you don't butt in my business." Says Neji.
Although he doesn't show it, Neji is embarrassed at being caught, but is too prideful to back down.
Itachi, seeing this, and being the older of the two turns to Sakura and says, "We are here to talk about Sasuke, Sakura."
"Yeah, we're here to talk about the brat, Sakura-chan! But that doesn't mean that you can just sit on your boyfriends lap and not give me my hug!" Says Shisui as he opens his arms for her.
Bless his soul. He always knows how to defuse the tension in the room no matter what the occasion is.
Looking apologetically at Neji, Sakura gets up from his bed and rushes into Shisui's arms and the latter picks her up and spins her around.
Both of the stoic males' looks soften at the laugh that escape Sakura's mouth. It's so happy and full of life, and it's been a long time since they last heard her laugh like that, or laugh at all for that matter. Three months. They haven't seen her a lot during the month of training since Neji was training with the clan, and Itachi was busy with training Sasuke along with Kakashi. They both saw her on occasions, but Shisui was the one that stuck to her like glue. He was her teacher for that duration when Tsunade wasn't able to train her. And she needed speed to counter Douso's sound waves. And who better than Shisui of the body flicker?
And after that, her parents' accident happened. They have barely seen her smile. It was really heartwarming to see and hear her laugh.
Then Shisui sets her down at turned her to face Itachi, who crouched to be at her eye level. He was way taller than her, but she didn't mind. She loves it when he puts his hand on her head and talks to her like the first time he saw her when she was a kid.
"Sakura. You know how the boys are competitive. Naruto is going to train with Jiraya. You are already training with Tsunade and you're about to surpass her. Sasuke wants to be like you guys too. Do you understand?" Says Itachi in that brotherly tone of voice that he uses only with Sakura. Sasuke would kill him if he talks like that with him.
"Well, yeah. But it's still dangerous with that snake! What if something happens to him! What if Orochimaru finds out and kills him? What if Sasuke likes it there and doesn't want to come back when it's time? What if Orochimaru poses Sasuke's body before we could get to him and it's too late! What if …"
Seeing the tears at the corners of her eyes, Itachi cuts her off by saying, "Don't worry your pretty little head over Sasuke's safety. I am his brother after all. You know that I won't let anything happen to him, right?"
"I know, Tachi. But … what are you planning to do?"
"Well, your father showed me something that only Haruno's could do. He said to teach it to you and use it if the situation requires it and he wasn't around to teach it to you." Says Itachi.
Sakura eyes him suspiciously before nodding and asking what it was.
"It's a seal." At Sakura's confused look, he explains, "This seal is done by swapping a little amount of blood and chakra between you and, let's say, Sasuke. A shape appears on Sasuke's skin, and if he is in danger, he sends a small amount of chakra to the seal which makes the exact same seal on your skin alert you that he is in danger. From what I understood, you will be able to pinpoint his exact location. And if you have something to send to him, you could send chakra through your seal, and he'll get the message. If you both do it at the same time, you could talk to each other while meditating."
Sakura doesn't hesitate to ask, "When will you teach me?"
Itachi smiles gently at her, "And I know that you're thinking about giving Naruto a seal, too. After you talk to Sasuke and Naruto I'll teach you."
"Yeah," Says Shisui. "They were pretty put down when we left them with our clones."
"And I bet that they are even angrier, now that they found out that they have been with our clones all this time." Says Itachi as he rises from his position and ruffles Sakura's hair.
Sakura turns to look at Neji and gives him an unsure smile. Neji nods at her and gives her a reassuring smile in return. Sakura sighs. "Hai. Let's go."
…
They find Sasuke and Naruto at Ichikaru ramen. No surprise there. Sasuke is the first to see her. "Sakura!"
Naruto lifts his head from his fifth bowl of ramen, "Sakura-chan!"
She smiles a bit and Naruto really looks at her. He notices the puffiness and the crying effects.
Shisui, Itachi and Neji decided to stay outside and give the team some privacy. But that didn't last long when Sasuke came flying from the ramen stand and onto the street. A few second later saw Sakura pulling back an angry Naruto.
"Naruto! What's wrong with you! Stop it!" Says Sakura.
"But the teme made you cry!" Yells Naruto as he balls his fist in front of Sasuke.
Sakura looks at the three guys standing at the side for help. Neji shakes his head at her in his silent way to tell her that she has to solve this on her own.
Itachi and Shisui look at her fascinated as she does just that. She knocks Naruto on the head and starts yelling at him for starting a fight with a comrade, all the while Naruto has his head bowed, his hands stuffed into his pockets and nodding his head submissively and comically so Sakura doesn't hurt him again.
"And YOU!" Says Sakura as she whirls on Sasuke who has by now gotten up from the ground and was looking rather stoically at Sakura. But it was really hard for her to take him seriously with his cheek swollen, red and puffy.
Sakura smacks him on the back of his head and proceeds to scold him about leaving friends behind.
"I'm already worried about you two when you're still in the village. What will I do when you're both gone?" Says Sakura as tears gather in her eyes again.
Good thing that Itachi and Shisui put up a concealing Genjutsu to keep the conversation private without the civilians hearing or seeing them. They are too used to the loudness of team seven to make the mistake of leaving them to their own devices.
"What if one of you never comes back to me?" Says Sakura as her lower lip trembles.
Naruto is the first to pull her into a hug and start frantically comforting her. "Don't worry Sakura-chan! We'll be fine! Don't cry! Please! We'll be okay! We are badass like that!"
"But I won't be there to heal you if something happens to either of you!" Says Sakura as she sniffs.
Sasuke looks at her with a softened look. Now he gets what this is about. She wasn't there for her parents. She fears that they will die or become comatose if she isn't there to heal them.
In a un-Sasuke like gesture he pulls Sakura from Naruto's arms and hugs her. Sakura holds him close to her despite the fact that she could feel Neji burning holes in Sasuke's skull.
"We will be fine, Sakura. I promise to use the seal whenever I feel like I'm in danger. And the dobe has Jiraya-sama and the Kyuubi to take care of him. We aren't little kids anymore. We appreciate you babying us, but you're going to have to pause for a couple of years and focus on those three instead." Says Sasuke.
"Promise you'll be okay?"
"Yes."
"Promise that you'll come back?"
"Yes."
"Pinky promise?" Asks Sakura innocently as she holds up her pinky finger and sniffs cutely at him.
Sasuke holds up his pinky and says, "Pinky promise." And they shake fingers.
Naruto snickers behind his hand at Sasuke, but he shuts up when Sakura turns to him and holds out her pinky for him too.
"You too, Naruto."
Naruto looks at Sasuke's smug face and scowls. But he gives in to Sakura and promises her, "It's a promise of a life time, Sakura-chan!" Yells Naruto.
Sakura hugs them both, each with one arm. Itachi hopes that the kids, especially Sakura, keep their innocence for as long as possible. But for now, they have something to do.
"Hey kids." At their glares he says, "Let's go find what Shisui is up to."
Looking around, they find that Shisui has escaped undetected. They all look at each other mischievously.
…
It doesn't take them long to find Shisui with Neji's Byakugan. He is in one of the forests surrounding the training grounds.
They go running there. Neji and Itachi stop a few feet away from where Shisui is 'hiding'. They glance at each other, but before they could shout a warning to the three Gennin, they hear Naruto's voice, "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO KIBA'S SISTER?! AND WHY THE HELL IS YOUR TONGUE IN HER THROAT!"
…
After the embarrassing episode in the forest, they leave Shisui with his red-faced girlfriend, and go to the Hyuuga compound.
They have dinner there, which isn't very weird. But the weird thing that had Hiashi, Itachi, Neji and Sakura stunned beyond words, is that Sasuke seems like he wants to spend as much time as he could with Hinata.
When it clicks that he likes her, and that she isn't doing anything to stop his advances, she actually looks happy about it, they have different reactions.
Sakura is ecstatic that Sasuke finally likes somebody, and that said somebody wasn't ever a fan-girl of his.
Hiashi keeps his eye on the Uchiha. Hinata is his daughter after all. But he doesn't interfere because he sees how happy she looks. Maybe this will be good for both clans?
Itachi is surprised that his little brother didn't tell him. He's going to tell Sizume about this. Although Sizume was engaged to him at birth, he grew to love her. She is going to sequel his ears off when she hears that 'her adorable little Sasu-kun' has a crush on Hyuuga Hinata.
Neji narrows his eyes and glares at Sasuke. He doesn't like this one bit. He turns to see the others reactions; Naruto is oblivious as always, Hiashi looks guarded, Itachi looks surprised, Sakura looks like she's the happiest person on earth.
He couldn't take that from her after what she went through today. That, coupled with Hiashi's warning glance, stops him from sitting between the two mushy couple. Instead he loops his arm around Sakura's shoulders, and she tucks her head under his chin while still looking at Sasuke and Hinata.
"Aren't they cute together?" Whispers Sakura.
"Very." Responds Neji dryly.
Sakura giggles. Then, "Don't be like that, Neji-kun." She says while smacking his chest playfully.
He holds the spot and says dramatically, "You hurt me deeply, Hime."
"Oh, hush, you big baby." Giggles Sakura at his expense. Then she leans up and kisses him softly on the check.
Just then an ANBU with the mask of a dog appears in a puff of smoke.
"Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Neji, the Hokage wishes to see you two in his office first thing tomorrow morning."
At their nods, he bows respectfully to the Hyuuga clan head, and then takes his leave in the same way he came.
Hiashi smirks.
Neji and Sakura look at each other thinking the same thing.
'What could he want?'
…
Hiruzen spoke without looking up from his work, "You told them?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Said the ANBU operative.
"Then you saw her."
"Hai."
"Then I assume you are ready to go on your mission?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Very well. Haruno Kizashi, you are to set out and look for your wife, Haruno Mebuki, and you are not to come back without her. You are to send me monthly updates on your progress and location."
"Hai, Hokage-sama. But please take care of her."
Hiruzen's voice softens, "I promise you that I will, and so does Hiashi. I know that it is hard for you to keep your daughter in the dark, but it is better this way. You can look for your wife as long as you like without having her worrying about you. Our top priority is to find Mebuki. If whoever has her knows about her bloodline, Konoha will be in grave danger."
"Hai, Hokage-sama. I'll set out at dawn."
"Very well, then. Dismissed." And with that the ANBU disappeared.
…
A/N: Well, that was long :P
I want to respond to some of your reviews before ending this chapter:
Sakura Hatsu: It's my honor to be your idol. *Blushes bashfully*
TheProdigy'sWife14:You have a couple of NejiSaku fics that I love, and they are actually two of the four first fictions that made me fall in love with this pairing. And although it's been about a year since I read them, I still remember them clearly and I thank you for writing these fics. And about Ino and the others, they will still be the Konoha 12, so I wanted to make sure that their friendships are clear. Also, the clan heads came over to see Sakura since she is Kizashi's girl, and Neji's girlfriend-to-be, so they bring the kids with them.
Guest: I actually forgot about Shisui's involvement in the massacre. But it isn't really the center of this fic, so I wasn't going to delve into those specifics anyways.
Guest: My first language is Arabic. And I'm going to have to politely reject your suggestion. I really don't want it to be an ItaSaku, although I'm thinking about writing one when I'm done with this ;)
And because a lot of you keep pressing for romance, and I really don't want to write about that while they're young, I had to do a time skip over the details that I don't want to change much about. So all the other events, like their graduation, the mission with Tazuna and the chunnin exams, are basically the same, except for Hiruzen, who stays alive because both Jiraya and Tsunade were there with him. But Orochimaru does loose his arms.
Tell me what you think.
Zee