A/N: Another chapter finally ready! Thank you to the many, many of you who have put this story into your favs and alerts. I truly do appreciate it but if I may ask, I would really like to hear back from you. I don't want to assume you are liking the story just because you alerted it. I would love to hear what you all think about the story!
Okay, begging is over. :)
Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
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Almost immediately after Gaara's announcement, thousands of shinobi screamed their joy across the bloody battlefield. Men who were once deemed enemies by their villages hugged each other in relief. Some cried, some collapsed to the ground...but everyone shared the same feeling of happiness.
Sakura didn't get time to enjoy the announcement. As she was about to turn and embrace Chiyo-baa-san in her own relief, a whirlwind of sand gathered around her. She was lifted carefully and carried several hundred yards away to a large medical tent. The sand deposited her at the door and she could now see the dozens of ANBU that surrounded the perimeter.
"Sakura get in here!" she heard her shishou's voice carry through the canvas flaps.
Sakura made her way inside and found herself impressed at the level of technical equipment scattered about. Even the other medical stations she worked at throughout the war did not have some of the supplies littered around the walls.
"Most of this is thanks to Kumogakure." Tsunade said as she had noticed the direction her student was looking.
Sakura watched Tsunade walk away from the Raikage who was lying on a cot by the far wall. He was now conscious and watching them both with his discerning gaze.
"How are you feeling Raikage-sama?" Sakura asked.
He merely grunted and turned away.
Tsunade let out a small scoff. "He's just pissy because he got taken out so quickly and had to be healed...but he's fine."
"Tsunade-sama, why was I brought here?"
Tsunade walked up to her student and placed her chakra glowing hand on her chest. Sakura felt her shishou's familiar warm chakra checking her systems.
"Good, you're alright." Tsunade said with relief. She opened her mouth to speak again but Shizune ran into the tent then.
"Sorry Tsunade-sama, I was giving the other medics their orders."
"It's okay Shizune, they're just now leaving the battlefield. We've got a couple of minutes."
"Who left the battlefield? What have we got time for?" Sakura asked once again, her impatience beginning to show.
"Naruto, Killer-bee, and Sasuke are being brought here by Gaara." Sakura sucked in her breath quickly in surprise but Tsunade didn't stop in her explanation. "They're wounded but I don't know how badly. This is now a secured zone and no one else will be allowed in without a high level clearance. Itachi is still with them and Sasuke is a missing-nin; I don't think I need to explain to you the seriousness of the situation."
Sakura nodded in understanding and accepted the chakra pill Shizune held out for her.
"That's why you didn't finish healing me ain't it Tsunade? You think I'll be kept down like this? I can still get up and kill that little Uchiha shit!" the Raikage yelled from his bed.
"You aren't going anywhere!" Tsunade screamed back. "Shut up and lay down before you undo everything I just did." she sighed heavily and turned back to Sakura and Shizune. "I don't know what his agenda is but I at least owe the brat for saving us. Once he's healed we'll decide what to do; but Sakura..." she turned a serious eye onto her student. "If he makes so much as a threat to anyone in this tent I'll..."
"I know Tsunade-sama." Sakura said, cutting off her statement. "I understand perfectly." she said in a tired voice.
Tsunade looked at her student thoughtfully. She wasn't sure what Sakura was feeling at the moment. It seemed she understood that Sasuke would be dealt with swiftly if he tried to harm anyone but the arguments and tears didn't come as she expected. She wasn't given any further time to think on the matter as a strong gust of wind entered the tent along with one of the ANBU's calls of "they're here".
The three best medics in Konoha took their stances beside three empty cots and awaited the injured heroes of the war.
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"Dammit, hurry up with that saline drip!" Sakura yelled to one of the jounin medics helping the three women. Sakura concentrated as she continued to weave her chakra around the injured blood vessels of Sasuke's right arm. She heard Shizune belt out an order to another medic but she couldn't afford to turn her attention away for a second to see how the other woman's patient was faring.
When Gaara brought in Naruto, Sasuke, and Killer-bee everyone took only a second to observe their horrible injuries before the medics jumped into action. Killer-bee was placed in front of Shizune. Thankfully, Kakashi had come in with Gaara and he went to the Raikage's side to hold him down in bed. Upon seeing his brother's injuries, he had tried to rush to his side. When Kakashi prevented him from getting up, he took to screaming demands for information to Shizune. Gaara finally approached his bedside, and though no one could hear what he said to the older man, his screams quieted and he now only watched her work with narrowed eyes.
Naruto was placed in the middle, in front of Tsunade, while Sasuke became Sakura's patient. Killer-bee's injuries were bad but not life threatening. His main problem was chakra exhaustion. Naruto and Sasuke, however, were covered in deep lacerations. Blood transfusions were the first thing to be started on both young men. What Sakura and Tsunade were desperately trying to heal now were the massive burns covering both of them. It seemed that the explosion everyone heard earlier took place directly around the two.
Feeling that the artery she was working on was now healed, Sakura turned her attention to the blood she could see pooling beneath his left thigh.
"Kaka-sensei, bring me a kunai and help me." she ordered.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked as he held out the kunai for her. Sakura didn't answer but began cutting down the length of Sasuke's pants. Seeing her objective, Kakashi quickly copied her example on the other side. As the clothing fell away and revealed his long pale legs, Sakura saw the bit of metal lodged within his thigh. She carefully removed the debris and worked fast to repair the torn muscle and veins and to close the wound.
"Cut away his shirt as well." Sakura told Kakashi. "Be sure to remove any of the fabric that's adhered to his wounds." Sakura watched with a clinical eye as Sasuke's chest and abdomen were fully exposed to her. Blood was caked to his skin but she was sure most of that was from the arterial damage he'd suffered to his arm. She saw Kakashi wince as he pulled away the fabric in places and inadvertently brought flesh with it. The smell of burnt skin assaulted her nose and no matter how many she'd treated, she had to bite back the bile that rose in her throat from the horrible smell.
She finished with his thigh and turned her attention to his torso. As she poured her chakra into his system, forcing his cells to regenerate at an accelerated rate, the man beneath her began to groan in pain. A similar groan was heard near her and she knew her shishou was on the same process with Naruto. The skin began knitting itself back together and Sasuke's eyes opened in a flash. A loud moan tore from his throat and he began thrashing on the cot.
"Hold him down!" Sakura and Tsunade commanded at the same time. Medics rushed to Tsunade's side and Itachi, who Sakura had not noticed while treating his brother, appeared at Sasuke's head. He griped his brother's shoulders firmly and held him down as Sakura continued to force her chakra into his system.
Sweat began to bead on her brow as the great use of chakra was now catching up with her but Sakura ignored it. She began pulling from her chakra reserves in order to complete Sasuke's healing. As the terrible burns faded away, his thrashing subsided and his breathing evened out. Finally after the long process was complete Sakura ran a cloth across his chest, washing away the dried blood and was glad to see unmarred skin beneath it.
Unfortunately she wasn't done. She lifted her hand to his temple and pushed her chakra gently into the delicate system around his eyes. Tears of blood ran down his cheeks and she desperately searched for a way to stop it. Taking a deep breath Sakura closed her eyes and shut out the noise around her. She couldn't afford to make a mistake while running her chakra around the delicate nerves and muscles surrounding his eyes. If she pushed too much chakra into the system, it would rupture the pathways and probably leave him blind forever.
While she didn't know a lot about healing Sharingan eyes, she could easily feel the ruptured blood vessels surrounding the orb. Ever so slowly, she forced her chakra to surround them and sped up the clotting process. The muscles of his eyes were strained and broken down, and the nerves were swollen with over use. Shrinking the width of her chakra flow even more, she began pushing the muscle cells to rebuild themselves while allowing a soothing chakra to flow over the nerve endings. Her own breathing was now slow and steady, almost as if she were meditating. Thankfully healing eyes did not take a great deal of chakra, as she was almost out, but it did require a very fine control of it. Her thoughts were single minded as she repaired his damaged eyes and it allowed the rest of her body to relax as she focused solely on them.
When she felt she had done all she could, she slowly opened her eyes and was immediately shocked. Sasuke's eyes were open and though they were heavy with sleep, they were focused on her. She stood quickly and turned away from his gaze, focusing instead on the medic who was wrapping gauze around the minor injuries left on his legs.
"How is he Sakura?" Tsunade asked, bringing her mind back into focus. The exhaustion hit her powerfully as the shock of seeing Sasuke awake and staring at her left her body. Her knees buckled but Itachi caught her shoulders to steady her before she could hit the ground.
"He...he's gonna be fine." she said weakly.
Tsunade wiped her own brow as she leaned heavily against Naruto's bed. "This idiot will too." For the first time Tsunade allowed a smile to grace her features. "Get some rest Sakura. You've more than earned it."
Sakura smiled back at her shishou and allowed Itachi to guide her to another cot set up in the corner. She had no sooner let her head hit the pillow before sleep overcame her.
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When Sakura awoke, she was very surprised to find herself not in the medic cot, but at what seemed to be the base of the Allied Forces. Even though she was exhausted, her shinobi reflexes and natural awareness should have alerted her to being moved. She sat up slowly and scanned her surroundings. Naruto and Sasuke were still asleep on cots lining the opposite wall. They were several feet apart and as she stood she immediately understood why.
Surrounding Sasuke's bed was large and intricate writing. She wasn't entirely familiar with the pattern but she understood enough of it to know it was a seal of some sort. Clearly the kages were not taking any risks with their former team mate.
The tables in the middle of the room held fresh fruit and a pot of still warm stew. Sakura made her way over to the table and sat down in one of the plush chairs surrounding it. The fatigue she felt at that small movement did not escape her notice but the fierce rumbling of her belly had demanded she make the move. The stew was heavenly on her tongue and briefly reminded her of the rice and fish she ate in the company of Sasuke's team and Itachi. She had not seen his other team mates since the beginning of the battle. Her mind did not stay on them for long as she simply sat back and enjoyed the first decent meal she'd had in weeks.
As she was finishing, the door opened and Tsunade walked in followed closely by Itachi.
"Sakura, how are you feeling?" her shishou asked with happy but still troubled eyes.
"Fine Tsunade-sama. Ummm...can you tell me wh..."
"That's good. Excuse me but I need to wake up our other patients over here. We're going to be having some guests soon and it would be wrong of them to miss this." Sakura watched in confusion as Tsunade made her way over to Naruto and Sasuke.
"Itachi-san, what's going on?" she asked.
"Hokage-sama is just as her reputation states." he said quietly. "I wonder if you've always had the same temperament or if you picked up some of your master's ways over the years."
"I...uh...what?" she asked in confusion.
She heard Itachi sigh before he addressed her again. "You'll learn soon enough Sakura-san. I would, however, suggest you keep quiet during this meeting."
Sakura was taken aback by his statement. Keep quiet over what? What was even going on? Once again, she felt like she was being left out of something important. Why were there so many things going on that she didn't know about? She bristled slightly with anger and pain but before she could ask another question Kakashi walked in with Shikamaru and his father.
"Glad to see you back up Sakura." Kakashi said with a little wave.
"Tsunade-sama, are you sure it's wise to be doing this now?" Shikaku asked.
Tsunade didn't stop as she held a glowing hand over each of the young men's heads. "Yes. I want to get to the bottom of this now." she bit out angrily. "Before we can return from this war and continue re-building Konoha I will find out how much of the old we will have to strip away."
Well, Tsunade was talking but none of it made sense to Sakura. She was even more confused than before. Everyone's cryptic way of speaking had long since gotten on her nerves and if they were going to do that then what was the sense of her even being there?
Naruto groaned as his eyes finally opened. Sakura watched as he slowly came awake and sat up in bed.
"Are you okay Naruto?" Tsunade asked.
"Baa...chan?" his groggy voice asked.
"I told you to stop calling me that." she growled.
Naruto tried to laugh but it came out instead as a wheeze. Kakashi poured him water from the pitcher on the table and took it to him.
"Baa-chan?" Itachi asked Sakura. Had she not been looking into the stoic face of a murderous missing-nin, Sakura would have thought he looked amused.
"Yeah, Naruto likes to constantly remind Tsunade-sama of her age." Sakura said with a shake of her head. "He's going to get himself killed one day doing that."
"Ugh..."
That one sound had Sakura tensing her muscles as Sasuke came awake from his slumber. Everyone watched as Sasuke slowly sat up in bed and the grogginess of sleep left his mind. Sakura knew the moment he registered the multiple chakras surrounding him...his shoulders tensed, a scowl formed between his brows, and his Sharingan activated in a flash of blood red.
"What the hell is this?" he asked in his deep voice that showed none of the weariness Sakura knew he had to be feeling.
"Shut the fuck up and listen Uchiha." Tsunade said as she stood before his bed. All she was missing was the customary hat of the kages as she stood before him confident with the power she possessed as the leader of Konoha. Sakura didn't miss the narrowing of Sasuke's eyes as he stared down her mentor. "You've got a lot of shit to answer for and you should be glad you were even able to wake up. For the stunts you've pulled over the past few months Gaara should have left your ass to die on that battlefield."
"Baa-chan..."
"Shut it Naruto! Don't you say a word. You're in enough trouble as it is."
"Yeah." Naruto said and lowered his head. Sakura was hit with the urge to laugh at the sight of two of the most powerful shinobi alive being reprimanded like children. She held the urge back and concentrated on what Tsunade was saying.
"As I was saying...Since Gaara didn't leave you there that now means that I have to deal with you." Sakura and Naruto both held their breath in anticipation for their hokage's next words. "That will have to wait though. Right now, I've got a couple of people coming that I need to question first. I'm warning you Sasuke. I don't want to hear a fucking thing come out of your mouth." his eyes narrowed further and his hands clenched beside him. "And don't think about moving either. If you haven't noticed, we've got a stationary sealing spell around you so you can't go anywhere. Oh don't worry, it's more than strong enough." she said with a little smirk as Sasuke took in the sight of the seal.
Sakura watched Naruto as he saw the spell binding Sasuke to the bed. She wasn't sure what the emotion was that crossed his face. Worry? Relief? Sadness? Perhaps it was a mixture of them all.
A knock on the door drew everyone's attentions. Yamato came in with an ANBU escort for the two guests Tsunade had summoned to the base. Sakura was confused, and honestly a little scared, from the horrible chakra she felt gathering around Sasuke. Naruto however seemed to understand the reasons because she saw him approach his bed and begin talking softly to him.
"Ahh...glad to see you made it here safely Homura, Koharu."
Whatever words Naruto was saying to him was lost in the fierce pounding of blood in his ears. Rage like that he'd only felt at Danzo rushed through his body.
While he'd had no intention of obeying the hokage's orders, he found himself unable to speak at the moment due to the over-whelming anger coursing through his body. He'd have to thank the old bitch later for bringing his prey to him.
His eyes scanned over their old bodies and the rage intensified. How dare these two old bastards stand before him? The wrinkles around their eyes seemed to mock him.
At least they'd made it to their advanced age...his parents, and most of his clan, had died before even the prime of their lives.
Oh he would enjoy killing them. They wouldn't be able to fight like Danzo had but he would enjoy watching the life drain from their eyes none-the-less.
He had to get out of this damn seal they put around him. Sasuke began slowly shifting his legs towards the side of the bed but as he got closer he felt the weight of the seal activating. It wasn't painful, but it felt as if a few hundred pounds just settled into his legs stopping his movement.
Sasuke cursed to himself. He wouldn't let this stop him. Nothing would stop him from exacting justice for his clan...for Itachi.
His eyes drifted to his brother as he thought of him and found Itachi was watching him. The sharingan in his brother's eyes activated and the world surrounding them stopped completely.
"Has everything but anger truly abandoned you?" Itachi asked.
"What the hell are you asking me that for now!" Sasuke shouted to him. He wasn't worried about anyone overhearing their conversation as they were now within a genjutsu together.
Itachi sighed heavily and leaned back in the chair he sat in. "You need to listen more closely Sasuke. Learn to read things more clearly. If you were able to, you would have seen Madara was playing you for a fool a long time ago."
The barb found it's mark and Sasuke fought to keep his face devoid of any emotions. Why? Why after everything he'd done did Itachi still have the ability to make him feel like the little boy who would never catch up to his big brother?
"I know exactly what those bastards did! What they made you do! They deserve to die." Sasuke argued heatedly.
"You're still such a young fool ototo."
"What?"
"You may have my eyes but you are still blind." Itachi said and broke the genjutsu.
Sasuke sat motionless in the bed as his brother's words ran across his mind. What the hell could he be referring to now? While he sat trying to decipher the cryptic words the conversation around him filtered into his muddled brain.
"I still don't understand what we're doing here Tsunade." Homura said. "The war is indeed over but why have you pulled us from Konoha?"
"Oh I'm sorry." Tsunade said with a large grin plastered to her face. "Perhaps you should move aside Yamato. I don't think they can see everyone here."
Sakura watched as Yamato stepped aside allowing Itachi to come into their line of sight. The effect was instantaneous. Homura's eyes went wide and he took an involuntary step back. Koharu's face went white as a sheet and she grabbed her chest as the shocked gasp left her lips.
"Wha...what is the meaning of this?" Koharu asked breathlessly. "What is he doing here?"
"He aided the Allied Forces during the war."
"Impossible." Homura muttered.
"Oh I assure you it's quite possible." Tsunade said as she leaned back against the table. "Why? Is there a problem with him being here?"
Sakura thought the smug look on her shishou's face was telling, and apparently so did the village elders. They glanced at each other quickly before turning again to face Tsunade. An apprehensive look now sat on their faces.
"He's an S-class missing-nin. Of course there's a problem with that." Homura said.
"Really, we've went along with most of your tactics Tsunade but this is too far." Koharu said.
"Really? But Itachi has made no move to harm anyone here. In fact, he's been very helpful to us all. Actually, I've learned he's the one who rescued Sakura from Madara. Amazing what all I've learned from speaking with him." Tsunade's voice was laden with accusation as she narrowed her eyes at the elders.
If possible, their faces paled even further. Homura had his hands fisted by his side while Koharu turned her pinched face towards Itachi. Her eyes narrowed in anger and she shot him a look full of hatred.
"It's all lies." Koharu said.
"What is?" Tsunade asked.
"Everything he's said. He's only spouting off a bunch of ridiculous nonsense to try and sway your bleeding heart."
"You think so?" Tsunade seemed to say thoughtfully. "I don't know. He's been very convincing."
"Once again you fail to see the truth Tsunade. How could any of that possibly be the truth? Why would we do such a thing?"
Tsunade's voice, filled now with anger, replied. "That's what I want to know."
The elders looked at each other again, their eyes warring against each other. As their backs stiffened they turned to face her once again.
"We would do anything to keep Konoha safe. The village is our top priority."
"Anything we have done has been for the good of Konoha." Koharu said.
"So you think you can justify anything as long as you slap a 'it's for the good of the village' label on it?" Tsunade said in disbelief.
"We prevented a war." Homura said through his clenched teeth.
"They were going to revolt against the village. You left Konoha but surely you can remember the strength the clan possessed. If we did nothing hundreds would have died." Koharu said.
"They were so arrogant." Homura spat. "They left us with no choice."
"You two are being surprisingly talkative now." Tsunade said from her perch against the table.
"It was obvious Itachi already convinced you that we gave the order so we might as well make you understand why it had to be done." Koharu said.
Tsunade raised her eyebrow at the pair. "I don't ever remember saying Itachi told me anything about the massacre."
A pin drop could be heard in the silence that descended upon the room after her statement. The elder's jaws dropped in disbelief as they stared, unmoving, back at Tsunade.
"B...but...you said..." Koharu stuttered.
"I only said I learned things from speaking with Itachi. I was referring to Sakura's refusal to give any information on Konoha even under torture from Madara. You should know...a shinobi would never reveal his mission, especially a highly classified one."
Sakura felt Naruto's eyes on her but she didn't turn to acknowledge the stare. After this horrible meeting was over they could talk. Surprisingly, Naruto remained silent as well.
"Then how did you..."
"Find out?" Tsunade said, interrupting Homaru. "Apparently Madara wanted to shake Naruto's resolve and told him about the massacre himself. Now I would never be one to believe an enemy's words but considering Itachi's record while he was still a shinobi in Konoha I decided to ask a few questions to certain people." Tsunade pushed off the table and began walking slowly around the now stupefied elders. "While it's true Sasuke attacked the kage's meeting, do you know he was only looking for Danzo? He fought the other kages when they attacked him. Of course, they had good reason." she shot a narrowed eye to the young Uchiha at that.
"He murdered Danzo. A loyal shinobi of Konoha..."
"And the leader of ROOT. An organization I have never liked nor agreed with. The things they do to it's members is wrong." she said heatedly. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and continued her speech. "During the time Sasuke has been away from the village he has never, that we know of, declared a dislike of Konoha nor voice his intentions to destroy it. After his fight with Itachi, he suddenly joined with Madara and told his former team mates he would destroy the village."
Tsunade came to a stop directly in front of the elders. "All of that got me thinking and I decided to question you two. I didn't want to do this in Konoha and besides, I wanted to see your reactions to Itachi. The only people you have to blame on revealing your actions is yourself."
"We will not apologize." Homura said defiantly. "We did what was best for the village."
"Murdering it's citizens is not what's best for the village!" Tsunade screamed in their faces. The ANBU stepped out from behind the elders as Tsunade bore down on them, pushing them back against the wall. "I don't care what the circumstances were."
"You'd rather have seen an internal war rage withing the village walls?" Koharu asked.
"You have the blood of innocents...the blood of children on your hands." Tsunade spat with disgust and turned away from them.
"They had no respect for the third." Homura said in a quiet voice. "All this started after the fourth got himself killed."
"If Kushina had better control this could have all been avoided." Koharu said.
"You...you don't know what the fuck you're talking about." Naruto said as he clenched his fists to his thighs. "Just shut up! Both of you!"
Kakashi appeared at Naruto's bedside and gripped his shoulder tightly. He bent down and began whispering in his ear. The palpable rage never left him but Sakura didn't think he'd rush the elders anytime soon. She was afraid he was about to before Kakashi began speaking to him.
"I've heard enough and I'm disgusted with the both of you." Tsunade said as she stood against the table once more. Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, you are both under arrest for murder and for treasonous acts towards Konoha."
The ANBU moved quickly once Tsunade spoke. Almost immediately both elders were shackled and had chakra draining seals placed to their chests.
"You don't have the right to do this! We were acting as the council of Konoha!" Koharu screamed.
"No one is above the law...not even the hokage." Tsunade said with apparent sadness in her voice.
The elders screamed their outrage as the ANBU led them out of the room. Silence descended once again as everyone processed the events that just took place. Sakura glanced up to Sasuke. He was still staring at the door where the elders had been led from. She was expecting him to look angry or smug about their arrest; instead he looked confused by the situation.
Tsunade sighed heavily and sat in the chair behind her. "Uchiha Itachi."
"Yes Hokage-sama." he replied instantly.
Tsunade seemed to wince as he addressed her now. "I can not condone your actions of that night. Konoha lost many, many good people at your hands...some of them good friends of mine. However, I can not begin to apologize for the task you were handed by your superiors. For the first time ever I can say I am truly ashamed at my villages decisions."
"My actions were my own that night. No one forced my hand and I did it to protect the village. It is my burden alone to bear." Itachi said in his monotone voice.
Tsunade's face seemed to show it's actual age under the heavy knowledge she now possessed. "I...I don't know what else to do. You're...dead already. I don't know how..." she sighed again before bowing her head deeply to Uchiha Itachi. "I am truly sorry for my predecessors involvement in this."
It was silent for a time before Itachi spoke again. "If you would Hokage-sama, there is one thing I would ask for."
"If it is within my power...please...ask it of me."
"I would only ask of you as I did Sarutobi-sama. I only wish for Sasuke's safety."