Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 21
Itachi people. Itachi!
Now those that know Sasuke knows that he isn't one to show his emotions too frequently. He is definitely not someone who will cause a scene...that's Naruto's speciality. However, around a certain pink haired teammate he has not only shown his more vulnerable side but also his more darker and volatile side. It seems like his pink haired female teammate just know which buttons to push. So that is why right now he is feeling nothing but pure anger and frustration with her.
After the whole Gaara rescue mission, they finally managed to get him back to his village after a day of traveling. Currently team seven was resting in the kazekage mansion, recuperating their lost chakra and physical strength.
Of course Naruto was busy catching up with Gaara, thus leaving Sasuke alone with the object of his anger.
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Pacing around the large common room located on the top floor of the mansion, his eyes occasionally drifted a glare at his female teammate that was lounging on a plushy couch reading what seemed to be like a medical scroll. She seemed completely oblivious to the growing anger around him.
"Sasuke-kun can you stop pacing?" Sakura asked as her eyes continued to read the medical scroll in her hand. "It's distracting."
Sasuke stopped fully in his movements and glared directly at the oblivious girl. Her lack of notice of his growing rage further agitate him.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" He was surprised by how loud his voice came out.
Sakura flinched at his loud voice and dropped the scroll onto her lap in surprise. "W-what?" She sputtered as she finally caught sight of the unbridled fury in Sasuke's eyes.
Taking in a deep breath, Sasuke willed himself to calm. "What were you thinking?" His voice much more calmer this time.
"What?" Sakura asked confused by his question.
"Using yourself as a shield like that."
"I couldn't let Sasori kill Chiyo baa-san, besides I did the same thing the first time and I was fine." Sakura casually explained to Sasuke. Honestly she didn't see what was the big deal. After all as a Konoha shinobi she was fully prepared to sacrifice herself for her comrades.
Sasuke on the other had was getting more and more ticked off. "Just because it was fine the first time doesn't mean it's fine the second time." He snarled as his chakra started to flare. "Do you not use your brain? You could have found another way to block his attack!"
"These was no time for me to block his attack in another fashion. What I did was the most logical thing I could think of." Sakura argued back getting slightly more ticked off by Sasuke's tone.
Storming over to Sakura, Sasuke gripped her wrist and dragged her up from the couch. "The most logical thing you could think of?" He repeated, as his eyes were narrowed in pure anger.
Glaring back up at the Uchiha, Sakura tried to tug herself free from his tight grip. "Yes, the most logical thing. She was my comrade and I wasn't going to let her die."
Sasuke's grip tightened even further. "So you were willing to die for a ninja you met not three days ago?"
"Yes." Sakura replied back defiantly.
Gritting his teeth, he glared at her one last time before releasing her wrist and turning around. He couldn't look at her. Not right now. Sakura stared at Sasuke's back before looking down at her wrist. A red hand mark present on her delicate skin. She was mature enough to understand that his anger at her was one of worry. As a medical ninja she knew how reckless her actions had been but at that time when she saw the blade striking down on Chiyo baa-san she wasn't thinking, her body just acted on it's own.
Giving a mental sigh, she stared at his tense back
She should probably apologize to him, after all he was just worried.
Hesitantly she reached out a hand and tugged on the sleeve of Sasuke's jounin garb. She saw his body tense further under her touch. "I'm sorry." Her voice came out soft as she tried to get Sasuke to turn around.
"About?" He replied though not turning around.
"I understand that my actions were…"Sakura paused for a bit as she tried to think of a word to use. "...rash. But sometimes my body acts before my brain could process the situation." She took a breath. "So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm sorry if I worried you."
Falling silent, Sakura waited for Sasuke to turn around or at least say something.
"Just don't do anything that idiotic again." Said Sasuke as he finally turned to face the girl. A small smile broke out on Sakura face as she gave him a nod.
The next morning team seven was fully rested and ready to return back to Konoha. Bidding Gaara goodbye, they headed home. The morning sun beat down on the three as they trudged through the sweltering desert. Groans of complaints could be heard from Naruto as he stared at the glaring sun.
"Sakuraaa-channnn, it's sooo hotttttt." He pouted at his female teammate, who ignored his whining. "Sakuraaa-channn."
"Shut up Naruto." Sakura punched the back of his head. The heat was starting to get to her as well. It would still take a few hours before they could fully make it out of the sand village, and Naruto's whining was not making this journey any easier.
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By noon time the team finally made their way into the dense forest that surrounded Sunagakure. Once they were shielded underneath the large branches of the looming trees, the temperature immediately cooled. Taking out a canteen of water in her pack Sakura took a long gulp, before passing it to her teammates.
Finally with the sun hidden behind the tapestry of the leaves, Sakura felt her earlier frustration brought on by the heat slowly fade away. Closing her eyes she enjoyed the nice breeze that blew through her hair as she trailed after her teammates.
If she recalled properly they were going to met up with Itachi sooner or later on their trek back to Konoha so why not enjoy the moment of peace while she was still able to do so. Taking in the chirping of the birds overhead and the semi one sided conversation between Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura felt her body relax.
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"So I think we should go to Ichiraku ramen once we return to Konoha." Naruto mindlessly chatted to the stoic Uchiha. "I mean I've been away for so long and I deserve a six hour rest at Ichiraku."
"…" Sasuke felt his brows twitched.
"I would order miso, beef, pork...maybe vegetarian, more miso...but of course no menma" Naruto made a disgusted face at the word 'menma.'
Sasuke's brow twitched faster. For the past ten minutes Naruto has been blabbing on and on about ramen, and if he didn't shut up soon, he was going to get a nice chidori up his ass.
"I'm going to ask jii-chan to give me more slices of beef…"
"Shut up." Sasuke gritted through clenched teeth.
Naruto's eager expression fell into one of anger. "WHAT YOU SAY TO ME, TEME!" He waved a fist threateningly in front of his rival's face.
Sasuke glared at the blond. "Shut. Up!" he enunciated each word.
"TEME!"
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Sakura chuckled at the scenery before her. Naruto trying to swat at Sasuke who simply evaded all of his attempts. It seems like no matter how much time passes, those two will never grow up.
Closing her eyes once more she enjoyed the summery breeze...wait back up where was the breeze?
Her eyes flew open and her body tensed. Turning her head around, she studied her surroundings. The leaves on the trees stopped moving, and the birds stopped singing. Something was off. The stillness in the air became suffocating. Her eyes widened as realization hit. They were trapped in genjutsu.
"Naruto, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out with a certain desperation in her voice as she ran up to her two teammates. Placing a hand on their shoulders, she sent a wave of her chakra into them. "Kai."
Just as she expected. The scenery around them melted away, as a large green clearing took it's place.
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"Impressive."
The three ninjas tensed at the voice, as a cloaked figure manifested itself in front of them. His long black hair fell into a neat pony tail behind him, and the familiar mangekyo sharingan blazing in his eyes.
"Itachi." Sasuke said as he stared at his brother. A hint of sorrow was carried in his voice. The last time he had seen his brother was just before the war, though at that time he was already dead. "I'm bringing you back to Konoha."
The older Uchiha's brow raised at this strange preposition from his younger brother. Wasn't he suppose to be screaming about murdering him?
"I know the reason why you killed our clan."
"To test out my powers." Itachi smirked.
"Bullshit!" Sasuke half yelled. "You massacred out clan based on the orders of the Konoha elders, in order to stop the Uchiha's from starting a coup."
Itachi's body stiffened, but his face portrayed nothing. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I know the truth Itachi, so stop treating me as a fool." Sasuke spoke as he took a step toward his brother. "I'm bringing you back to Konoha."
"…"
"Itachi-san." The said man turned towards the pink haired girl. "Sasuke-kun isn't a child anymore, you can depend on him and you don't have to shoulder everything by yourself anymore."
Itachi cut his stare back to Sasuke and studied his younger brother. He does seem more mature and from his chakra he does seem stronger.
"You don't have to continue with your affiliation to Akatsuki. Konoha already has enough information about them." Sakura continued, in hopes that her words were enough to bring Itachi home without getting into a fight with one of Akatsuki's strongest members.
"That's a great story you two are telling me, but I have no idea what you are talking about." Itachi finally spoke.
Sasuke felt anger swell up inside him. Was his brother seriously still blindly refusing to believe him? Unconsciously, his own mangekyo became activated as he glared at the older Uchiha. "Then explain this." He took out the mission scroll that listed the objective for the massacre.
"Where did you get that?" Itachi seemed to be finally surprised by this piece of information Sasuke conjured up.
"Hokage...she wants you to return." Sasuke explained. "She's fully prepared to pardon you."
"Itachi-san please come home with us." Sakura piled on. "You're the only family member Sasuke-kun has left, so please don't end this story with you two killing each other."
"…"
"Itachi-san, I'm sure you are fully aware that Obito Uchiha is currently in Akatsuki being controlled by Madara Uchiha." Sakura decided to continue seeing how Itachi was slightly hesitating. "And Madara Uchiha is planning on getting his revenge on the village that outcasted him. So if you truly wish to protect the village, come with us and help us defend against this threat. Or does your love for the village only goes as far as massacring your clan?" She was trying to bait the Uchiha, knowing fully well of the glare that she was receiving from Sasuke. But she couldn't take back her words now.
"Kunoichi, do you really think your words can bait me?" Itachi queried. He never met such a girl who would be so defiant towards him.
"I suppose not, but I'm aware that not only are you going blind but you are also dying, and Konoha is your best chance of surviving and rekindling that broken bond between you and your brother." Sakura challenged back.
"And what makes you think that I wish to live and so as you say 'rekindling' my broken bonds?"
Sakura smirked, as she grabbed the mission scroll away from Sasuke. "Because with this scroll, we are opening a door that does not led to your death, and as shinobis we will always choose to avoid death if given the chance."
"And how can you be so certain that I will be pardoned?"
"Because if there's one person that hates the elders more than you, it'll be Tsunade-sama...and she'll do anything to put those old kooks in their place."
"…Sasuke?" Itachi turned to Sasuke for confirmation regarding everything that Sakura had just said.
"She's telling the truth, so return with us." Sasuke replied as he deactivated his sharingan.
"YEAH, RETURN WITH US!" Naruto voiced his thoughts, as he was just starting to get a grasp of what the situation was about. "YOU'RE TEME'S BROTHER AREN'T YOU? FAMILY SHOULD STICK TOGETHER."
Three weird stares were given in Naruto's direction.
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"..." Maybe he can try a new way to bring about change to the shinobi system. Like what the kunoichi said, him shouldering this responsibly wasn't doing any good. And with the scroll...Maybe he should give his baby brother a chance. "Very well then." Discarding his black and red cloak and the woven hat on the ground he walked towards the three ninjas. "Kunoichi you better hold true to your words." He turned off his sharingan for the first time in years and gave the girl a pointed stare.
Sakura gave Sasuke a smile before turning her attention to Itachi. "Itachi-san, my name isn't Kunoichi. It's Haruno Sakura."
I was really hesitant about this chapter. Cuz i wasn't sure if I should include a fight scene or not. But then I don't think it'll really make much sense. I mean I really doubt Sasuke would ever attack his brother after knowing the truth. and judging by how much itachi loves sasuke...
well, please tell me what you think about this chapter! (also be warned in later chapters itachi and sakura will have a lot of interactions and he will be a big motivator for SS XD)
please leave a review!