Chapter 18: Aftermath
(Authoress hands you a hot chocolate as you leave Kishi's world and step into hers But no…I don't own Naruto)
Sakura opened her eyes as a shiver wracked her body. She was freezing; cold to the point where she didn't feel the wetness of the water around her. Submerged up to her waist, the medic dangled from cuffs chained to the ceiling above. Her arm muscles strained painfully as she struggled to lift herself enough to grip the chains themselves. If she could keep her numb fingers working, she could alleviate the pull of her weight on her wrists.
Rain poured in from somewhere high above, drenching the part of her that wasn't under water already. The area she found herself held was dark, but dim light filtering in made it possible to see the outlines of stone walls and pillars around her. A good distance away, she could make out a partial wall that held the water in her cell. From the top of that wall to the ceiling, thick bars prevented escape to what appeared to be a hallway.
Escape? Sakura shivered again. She didn't even know where she was, so how could she plan an escape?
Using her chakra as a continuous supply of warmth, she was eventually able to banish the numbness in her extremities. In order to stave off hypothermia, Sakura knew she would have to forfeit her ability to convert the chakra into strength. She just didn't have enough of a supply to attempt both. Besides, these feel like Karin's doing. If that's the case, I wouldn't be able to break them anyway.
The pink-haired healer's jaw clenched at the thought of Karin. Sasuke's new teammate. A heavy sadness filled her at the thought of what her former friend had become. I should have let Itachi kill you, Sasuke. Maybe in death you would have found peace. She let the tears come to her eyes as she thought of Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru. She could have saved them if only she'd let the oldest Uchiha have his way. She could have prevented all this. The tears rolled down her cheeks, mixed in with the rain from above. Sasuke was too far gone for redemption. He would eventually turn into the monster his brother had warned her about, and then he would unleash his hatred on the rest of the world.
Just look at what he'd let happen to Konoha.
Anger suddenly raged through her and she reacted violently, struggling against her bonds, kicking and thrashing in the frigid water. She wanted to find Sasuke and make him hurt twice as much as he'd made her.
"You'll hurt yourself if you don't calm down," a quiet voice echoed through the chamber.
Sakura glared at Sasuke defiantly as he neared the bars around her prison. She would remain quiet as long as possible. There were no longer words to be said that would adequately satisfy her outrage at him.
Sasuke's eyes were dark, his sharingan deactivated. "Where's Naruto, Sakura?"
Silence.
"Sakura, answer me. Where is Naruto?"
More silence.
Sasuke unlocked the small door to her cell and stepped inside, walking across the water to her. He pulled out his sword, placing the edge of the blade at her throat. "For your own sake, Sakura, you will tell me where Naruto is."
Silence was no longer her weapon of choice. She pushed up against the blade, forcing it to cut the skin at her neck. "Go ahead, Sasuke. Hurt me. You're rather good at it, you know. But it won't change a thing. I will never tell you where Naruto is."
The way she talked to him, so unlike the old Sakura he knew, knocked the Uchiha slightly off guard. Ever since Karin had cleansed his memories, Sasuke could remember his former teammates clearly. The Sakura who dangled in front of him now, cold, wet, and hateful, made something inside his chest twinge. He knelt down in front of her, his expression cool. "Pein will not be this kind to you when he asks."
Faced with his hidden plea on her behalf, Sakura felt her hatred ebbing away. She tried desperately to grab it and hold on to it; use it against Sasuke, but her nature betrayed her once again. "Why, Sasuke?" she asked quietly. "Why are you doing this? We've only ever wanted the best for you."
He studied her for a moment. This was the Sakura he knew. She was still there, below the hurt and anger. Something he couldn't place compelled him to answer her. "You are a part of Konoha, Sakura. You're a part of the city that ordered Itachi to assassinate our clan." His sharingan activated along with his anger. "They ordered him to kill our entire clan! All because we were too powerful, too unpredictable."
Sakura's green eyes were wide as she stared into Sasuke's red gaze. She shook her head slowly. "No, Sasuke. T-they wouldn't…"
"Yes, Sakura." His face was inches from hers. "The place you're so loyal to killed my entire family."
She shook her head again. "No, Sasuke. It's wasn't the entire village! Maybe it was one or two corrupt elders. Danzo, why he's been a thorn in Tsunade-sama's side for years. They act without her knowledge or permission. It must have been so for the other Hokages as well."
Sasuke stood. "They covered it up. They are all to blame."
"And me? Naruto? Do you really think we're to blame as well?"
Sasuke didn't respond right away. He left her and walked back to the exit of her enclosure. As he locked the door behind him, he looked again at her shivering figure. "Keep your chakra going, Sakura. You'll be dead by morning if you don't keep warm."
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In the quiet of his chamber, Sasuke reflected on his interlude with the Konoha medic. She was wrong. The entire village was to blame. Those who saw a crime and did nothing were just as guilty as the ones who did the deed themselves. "We only wanted what's best for you." He sighed at those words, leaning back against the mattress on his cot. He couldn't deny Sakura and Naruto had always sought to save him. They had cared for him. They'd pursued him. They'd fought him, and they'd lost him. And still they'd hunted him.
He wasn't sure what to make of that.
Pein would visit Sakura in the morning. If they could find out where the nine-tails was, it would eliminate the risk of Naruto finding them first, an army of shinobi behind him. The Rinnegan user would not go easy on the young woman. He would make her talk.
Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the image of Sakura that lingered in his mind. When he failed miserably, he got up and left his room.
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Destroyed. Tsunade surveyed the damage from what remained of her tower. Most of her village was destroyed. Hundreds were dead. Hundreds were unaccounted for. Hundreds were stacked, side to side, in the hospital.
The quiet form of Kakashi appeared at the corner of her vision. She turned to him. "Well?"
He shook his head.
The Hokage swallowed the lump in her throat. "Do you think they took hostages?"
The copy-nin inhaled deeply, cautious in how he worded his reply. "We know they took at least one."
Tsunade's unforgiving eyes bore in to him. "Who?"
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Naruto shrugged on his pack, ready to be off on his journey home. He was confident that with his new Sage abilities, he would be able to finally bring Sasuke home.
He would finally be able to keep his promise to Sakura.
He couldn't wait to see her.
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"How's my pet today?" Suigetsu's voice rang out through the dank holding area. "Getting a taste of what it's like to be made of water?" He grinned at her through the rain drops that fell, ceaselessly, into the confinement facility.
Sakura grimaced, adjusting her hold on her chains slightly. Her chakra reserves were too low to fight off the mist-nin if he felt inclined to harass her.
As if reading her thoughts, he shook his head. "I'm here at Sasuke's request, not on my own intentions. You just tell me what I want to know, and I'll stay on this side of the wall."
"Go to hell, Suigetsu." Sakura's teeth chattered. "I'm not telling you anything either."
His smile vanished, replaced by a strange expression of concern. "You talk to me and Pein won't drag the information out of you. Nobody wants that, medic. Isn't self-preservation top on every shinobi's list?"
"I won't betray my friends."
"Sasuke said you'd say that."
"Sasuke wouldn't know the first thing about it!" she snapped at him.
"You're too stubborn for your own good, Sakura. Do you think Naruto would want you to go through torture just to protect him?"
"Naruto would understand." Sakura closed her eyes for a long moment. "Please go away now."
"No, I'm afraid it's not that easy. I'm under strict orders to make you talk. Sasuke will be unhappy if you don't tell me something." He moved toward the door of her cell. "Believe it or not, Sakura, I think he's doing this for you."
She almost laughed. Almost. "For me?" she asked, incredulous. "He sent you down here for my sake?"
"I'm much better than the alternative."
Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously. "If you come near me, Suigetsu, you'd better kill me."
"Yeah, Suigetsu. You'd better kill her." Karin's voice carried in from the hall. "Or better yet, why don't you let me."
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Coming soon: Chapter 19: I know why the Caged Bird Sings