Ch: 7 Far From Home
"I've seen guys like you. It never ends well. You'll only tear yourself apart. And even if you succeed and get your revenge, what will you have then? Nothing. Emptiness."
"Shut up. What makes you think you know anything about it? It's easy for you to talk…you have no idea!"
"Take it easy. Just try to calm down."
"Maybe if I kill the important people in your life—anyone who's ever meant anything to you - maybe then I'd listen to you. Because maybe then, you'd have some idea about how I feel."
"That's an interesting theory. But I'm afraid you're a little late."
…
"Everyone you're talking about is already dead."
His twelve-year old self was a jackass.
The man who tried to talk sense into him that fateful day stood right behind him. He was right all along. Sasuke never did get the vengeance that he wanted. Worse, now he was alone.
Kakashi leaned passively against the wall as they waited quietly.
Sasuke was on his knees in the Hokage's office, hands bound behind his back with chakra chains and four ANBU holding kunai to his throat. He could feel the skin on his wrists burning under the pressure.
These damned ANBU.
The shinobi behind the masks weren't shy about how they felt towards traitors. To say that it was uncomfortable to be detained by them was an understatement.
It was simply a gesture of goodwill that Sasuke kneeled on the floor and allowed himself to be herded like cattle, but he wouldn't take it much longer if they kept up their conceit.
Tsunade sat with her elbows on her desk, glaring at him.
Nobody spoke. Nobody moved.
What were they even waiting for?
He couldn't read her expression, and every tick tock that escaped the mounted clock on the wall just irritated him even more.
Half of him wondered if even she knew what she was going to do. If she was going to kill him, she should just do it.
Then he sensed it. A familiar chakra.
The window behind Tsunade's desk opened, and a man in bright orange pants crawled through.
Naruto.
As they made eye contact, Naruto's mouth parted in shock at the sight. He was probably the last person Naruto expected to be here.
To be fair, he had shown up without warning.
Never in one million years would Sasuke have thought he was a palm-sweater. But as his teammate stared him down, it was exactly what started happening.
There was always so much to say in his head. So much that he'd prepared over endless nights of staring at the ceiling—variants of I'm sorry that I almost killed you or you were the only one who believed in me or whatever the fuck he could come up with were all too stupid and shallow now.
What could he possibly say? There were no words.
Naruto hated him.
That was the only thing that echoed in his mind, repeatedly rubbing the open wound with salt.
When Naruto finally spoke, his voice was low and even. "Baa-chan. What are you doing?"
Sasuke heard different words.
Why are you still keeping him alive? What do you expect me to say to this traitor?
"We're going to give him to the interrogation squad," she said.
It wasn't a good thing to be turned over to the interrogation squad. That unit had a brutal reputation for torture, even outside the village. Anything was fair game in those dark chambers— even if it meant killing the subject and picking apart brains post-mortem.
"What? Why? You can't—"
She held up a manicured hand, cutting him off. "Naruto! This is not up for discussion. Out of respect for you and Kakashi, I allowed you to see him first. But you have no say in this matter."
Naruto closed his mouth and looked at Kakashi to gauge an appropriate response.
Unhelpfully, and with barely a glance, the white-haired man lazily threw up a customary greeting hand as if to say 'yo' from across the room.
Sasuke recalled the first time they met Morino Ibiki at the Chunin exams. The man towered over them with his authoritarian personality. Sasuke was glad that now, at this time in his life, he'd been around enough… or at least well-traveled enough, to put it mildly, to be less intimidated. Still, the measure seemed extreme considering that ANBU or Konoha would've never been able to catch him if he wasn't already willing to be there. Couldn't they see that he was being cooperative?
But Sasuke knew that if they wanted his opinion, they would've asked.
"What about Sakura?" Naruto inquired.
Sakura.
He'd thought a lot about her over the past few years too. Naruto and Kakashi were here—shouldn't she be too? They were all a part of Team 7.
Before he realized, his eyes and ears had perked up at the mention of his pink-haired teammate.
ANBU swiftly tightened the chakra chains and brought their kunai even closer to his body. Sasuke's irritation grew but he bit his tongue, resisting the urge to tell them to fuck off.
"She'll be notified when the interrogation is complete. It may be hours, or even days. She shouldn't worry. Especially not now," Tsunade said.
Again, Sasuke heard something else behind those words. What the Hokage probably meant to say was that Sakura didn't need to see her childhood love be dragged away in chains. Knowing his pink-haired teammate, she'd cry. She was almost an overly-emotional one.
When he looked at Naruto, the blonde was looking at the floor with his hands balled into white-knuckled fists. That was what Naruto did when he wanted to restrain himself from acting or saying something stupid.
Sasuke's doubt began to grow. Why had he returned here? How could he have thought this was a good idea? They would probably try to kill him. He would fail. Itachi would live. The clan would die.
"Naruto. Don't look so upset." Apparently the Hokage saw it too. "I'm not being cruel or unfair," she offered.
Unfair?
As in, it was unfair to Naruto that Sasuke continued to live after all he'd done. That definitely meant Naruto wanted him to be dead instead of interrogated.
"How can you say that baa-chan?" Naruto said. "You're delivering my best friend—my brother—to be tortured."
…
Had he heard correctly?
Sasuke's mind was slower to catch on than his body. It felt like a physical weight had been lifted off his shoulders. As if Naruto had liberated him of the chains around his wrists. Sasuke'd more or else accepted whatever gory fate was in store for him, but even he was surprised at the profound relief he felt from hearing that.
Naruto had called Sasuke his brother.
And for the first time in Sasuke's entire life since his family was murdered before his very eyes, he felt that maybe things would be okay.
"I wouldn't say that it's for no reason," said Tsunade with a sly grin on her face.
Naruto looked between her and Kakashi for clarification, and Sasuke realized that something about the situation was off.
"Anosa… what are you implying?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.
Clearly, both the younger shinobi missed something that the older adults in the room already knew.
At that moment, Tsunade's golden brown eyes became sharp as she confidently met Naruto's gaze. "Sasuke will be given a proper interrogation by Ibiki. If he can survive, it will demonstrate his cooperation and give credence to his potential re-introduction into Konoha. Without it, we'd have a difficult uphill battle with the council."
Wait—so Tsunade wasn't going to kill him?
Words were being exchanged too quickly.
Sasuke listened carefully, not wanting to miss a word.
Tsunade glanced at Sasuke warily before continuing. "You, Naruto, and Sakura have come a long way from your Genin years. You'd be an indispensable asset to Konoha as the next generation's Sannin. That's irrefutable."
They weren't going to talk about his crimes? His betrayal?
"If it goes according my plan, you three will initially join Kakashi as equals. I already have Shikaku Nara and the ANBU captain on my side."
Tsunade began to take a formal tone in her voice, and Sasuke could feel the punchline coming. He wore a look of cautious optimism as he comprehended the implications—he didn't want to get his hopes up.
"I will advocate for Team 7."
That was the punchline.
If this was all a huge prank—and god knew he'd deserve it—it would be the cruelest one.
"That's not all," Tsunade said as she motioned to Sasuke. "He has volunteered a compelling offer and I think the elders will want to take him up on it."
Right. The offer.
The thing that gave him the best chance at getting back into Konoha.
Naruto's eyes widened, pupils hyperactive and darting between Tsunade, Kakashi, and him. "What offer?" he asked.
It was Sasuke's turn to talk.
His voice eradicated the lingering suspense in the air.
Everyone's eyes fell onto him.
"She means… the Uchiha bloodline."
A few days later…
On a cloudy afternoon, Sakura found herself blinking at fluffy yellow petals.
Flowers were being held so close to her face that she couldn't see much of anything else, and the man holding them was too shy to meet her eye as he held out the bouquet.
He spoke with a strained voice, his words pouring out of his mouth like an overflowing fountain. "Sakura-chan, I brought you Primrose for the occasion and they reflect your endless vigor and youth and all the joy you give me by being here. What a time for us to be alive! Do you smell that in the air? It is the essence of vitality that allows me to stand here and thank you for the honor of sparring with you today!"
Damn was that a mouthful. Did this guy even breathe?
Lee appeared to be in a lot of pain. He clutched his heart with his free hand, twisting the green fabric at his chest. His eyes were closed and his face was contorted in an odd expression.
Sakura thought it was because he actually couldn't breathe. "Uhmm..."
She was about to ask if he was okay, not that she cared. Before she could do so, he burst.
"I cannot hold in my excitement any longer! And for that I will punish myself with one hundred laps around Konoha after dinner tonight! And if I can't do that I will do one hundred one legged squats! Sakura-chan, are you ready?!"
She awkwardly took the flowers from his arms and gently placed them on a wooden stump perched among a row of training dummies. She didn't know if she wanted to be there anymore. The man took 'intense' to a whole new level.
Sakura took a slow breath and forced herself to stay put, knowing that there was no point in backing out now—that would just bring a whole sleuth of complications. She assumed her fighting stance, signaling to Lee that she was ready.
He mirrored with the same. "I'm going to attack now."
He materialized at her side, too quick for the naked eye to catch. But she felt the air next to her shift and was able to block his kick with two hands.
She gripped the rubber heel of his shoe and thrust it backwards.
There—an opening.
In his millisecond of recovery, Sakura dropped to the floor with a sweeping kick in an attempt to trip and force Lee to fall backwards.
He leapt in the air with ease as she moved underneath him, and then he jumped backwards to put a few yards of space between them. He assumed his regular fighting stance again, not needing to breathe with how little effort he exerted.
"That was full of spirit, Sakura-chan!"
Don't stand in front of your enemy like an idiot, she wanted to tell him.
She took full advantage of his moment of vulnerability and leapt forward with a few punches.
When she finished one of her particularly long series, she ended it with a two-kick combo followed by a mid-air spin and a last final blow to his shoulder with her right leg, using her momentum to drive her foot into his body.
This time, he had to stagger his feet to prevent himself from being pushed backwards. He broke a sweat with the effort, and it was exhilarating for Sakura to be able to spar with Konoha's Wild Green Beast on the same level.
Most shinobi battles lasted only seconds. The more advanced the shinobi, the quicker to win.
Here, the two went on, concentrating on trading advanced taijutsu combinations with nothing but the impact of their bodies sound tracking their spar session.
Sakura found herself breathing heavily after a few minutes of high intensity and Lee's cool exterior had also begun to wear.
They collapsed onto their backs and opened their eyes to the clouds moving in the sky, ample sweat wetting the fronts of their shirts. Sakura glanced at Lee in her peripheral vision and wondered how he never had a heat stroke in that one-piece he always wore.
He caught her staring and sent her the cheesiest smile he could muster, pulling one hand into an enthusiastic thumbs up.
She tried her best at a smile.
She still felt uncomfortable around her alleged 'comrades' in Konoha.
Lee was okay, she supposed. He was mission un-critical. There was no way he'd pose a threat to her getting the Jinchuriki, so she decided she could relax around him.
Actually, relax was a stretch. She would be neutral with him. Either way, the sparring session was good for her antsy body.
"Sakura, you seem troubled. What are you thinking about?"
Shit.
"Nothing. I'm fine," she offered.
Think of something, she told herself. She could only think about her mission, and then shook her head. Think about something else.
"Are you troubled that I used my ankle weights? I hope you were not offended—"
"No, I'm glad you did," Sakura said truthfully. She might've lost their sparring session much sooner if he didn't, which would've dented her pride a tad even if she knew it was a handicap.
"Your eyes don't have their youthful—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Sakura looked up at him and he was staring intently at something on her leg.
"Sakura-chan, you're bleeding!"
The alarm in his voice shook her more than any possible injury on her body, because if she was actually bleeding, she hadn't felt any pain.
"Here, let me see," he said.
In a heartbeat, Lee was on his knees and hunched over where she had a shallow cut across the outside of her thigh. She propped herself up on her elbows to examine it herself.
"Oh that? It's nothing. I don't even know how I got that."
She wasn't even planning to heal it. That's how small she felt it was.
Lee, still on his knees, bowed in apology to her. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Sakura-chan. I was careless. Please forgive me."
Sakura looked at him to see if he was joking. He took her silence the wrong way and continued.
"I shouldn't have been so demanding right after your return. You are still recovering."
"No Lee, really." She put her hand on his shoulder to let him know that he shouldn't bow in apology to her. When he looked up, she waived a hand. "It's just temporary."
She was Akatsuki. No self-respecting S-class criminal would topple over from that.
"Your beautiful face has a bruise too," he said as if he was horrified that he'd been the one to give it to her. "Sakura-chan, I am adamant that you heal immediately."
"Even if I heal it now, something else will happen and it'll be the same thing again."
"Please, Sakura-chan."
His persistence was annoying.
To get him to shut up about it, she drew healing chakra into her hand and grazed it over her leg. Her skin began to stitch itself together until there was no sign of injury except for a little scuff mark under dried blood. She did the same to her face, clearing the blemish that upset Lee so much.
"There," she said with a little impatience. "If it makes you feel better."
Evidently, it did. His eyes lit up and he fell backwards again, chuckling to himself. "As always you amaze me."
Sure, it felt better now, but her relief was only temporary. And that was what was so wrong with their world.
If Akatsuki succeeded, they'd wipe the hidden villages off the Earth. The world would fall to darkness. The world would experience true pain. Then, and only then, could everlasting happiness be born. No fighting. No injury. No hidden battles and power struggles. It was the gift of Akatsuki. The only permanent solution.
"So short sighted…" Sakura whispered.
Lee looked at her.
"Did you say something Sakura-chan?"
She quickly shook her head.
"It's nothing."
Sakura thought about the last time she sparred with a colleague. It had ended very… differently. Actually, if she was going to be honest with herself, Hidan had traumatized her quite a bit.
Itachi could have at least said something to Hidan. Maybe he did privately. She couldn't know.
He could have at least said something to her. Something like his version of, 'are you okay"', though that was also difficult to picture.
She quickly tried to shake off her comparisons. She had literally just tried to tell herself that everything was insignificant in the grand scheme of things and that Lee was being short-sighted, so what was she doing?
They both looked to the water and allowed themselves to be pulled into the comfortable white noise of the waterfall downstream. She could make out tiny flecks of dark colors—baby fish or scavenging bugs. She kept eyes occupied by following their movements, in an attempt to not think too much.
Still, she couldn't shake the nagging desire for her Akatsuki colleagues to be more human every once in a while. Lee was intense, but at least he made her feel cared for even if it was insignificant.
Sakura caught herself thinking too much again. She needed to stop doing that in front of people, otherwise one day the Copy Ninja would call her out. He'd know if she was lying and that wouldn't be good.
"Do you want me to walk you home today?" Lee got up to stretch, signaling the conclusion of their sparring session.
Out of reflex she took Lee's extended hands and pulled herself up, dusting off her pants and her backside as best as she could.
"No, I'll be okay. Don't worry about me so much," she said.
She actually meant it. He shouldn't care. Because at some point in the future, she would probably have to kill him.
"Vigorous as you are beautiful, Sakura-chan!" Lee brought himself to a plank position. "I'm going to start my pushups so I can finish one thousand by dinnertime!"
They were already underway at fiery speed.
"Tsunade, there's no need to get heated," said Homura. "We all have a duty to do what's best for Konoha. That means weighing all our options and having a civil discussion."
"He is a dangerous and unpredictable shinobi," said Koharu. "We don't want you to make a rash decision. Konoha has a council for a reason."
Tsunade clenched her teeth. They sure knew how to talk. From an outsider's perspective, they might even appear rational. But she knew their militant personalities and was tired of how they could manipulate those around them into submission.
"I've already weighed the options, and already justified why I think this is best for Konoha. Am I not Hokage?!"
They went back and forth, less about what to actually do with Sasuke and more about who was better qualified to make the decisions.
Surprisingly to Tsunade, Danzo had asked to opt out of this meeting and allowed Koharu and Homaru to speak for him. This was a good thing, which meant that it was a bad thing.
Danzo was up to no good. She learned to always question her luck when it came to him.
Kakashi stood in the back next to a very tired looking Sasuke, who was just released from his interrogation with Ibiki. While the whole debrief was reported to be tamer than originally intended, Tsunade could tell that the cumulative deficiency of proper nutrition and sunlight over the last few days were taking their toll on him.
x
They were discussing his fate in Konoha, yet Sasuke was only a passenger in this conversation.
Not like he had the energy to participate. Sasuke's eyes hurt. His mind and body felt like he had taken a soldier pill—or three—and he was left with the aftereffects, forced to stay awake too long after the power of the pills wore off.
At least he could thank god that they'd loosened up his chakra chains. During the examination, ANBU learned about the injury in his right side. They probably realized he couldn't do jack, so now his arms were much more comfortably placed in front of his body and Kakashi had been tasked to keep them that way.
"We are not saying that Sasuke's return would not benefit Konoha," said Homura a bit more diplomatically. "But will you ensure that he doesn't betray the village again when it suits him? Can he be trusted as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf?"
Tsunade had long prepared for that question, hence Sasuke's current state.
"Because he had no ulterior motive to come back in the first place. But Ibiki would be better suited to answer that." Tsunade nodded behind to Kakashi, who opened the door to reveal Morino Ibiki patiently waiting outside.
The interrogator's stance said he was sure of himself. Hopefully it wouldn't all be for nothing.
"Ibiki," said the Hokage in her formal tone. "Please share what you learned about Sasuke, along with your recommendation for how he should be handled."
"Over the last few days, I've explored Sasuke's psyche in depth," Ibiki began. "He didn't resist. I was frankly disturbed by what he allowed me to see."
Still, the old woman looked unfazed, like she wasn't sold on the concept that Sasuke was any semblence of a victim in all this. "He left on his own. Orochimaru couldn't have created a monster if there was no darkness in the child's heart to begin with," she said.
"Konoha is no stranger to breeding assassins either."
The elders got stiff. It appeared to be a sour point for them.
"More important than who taught him his skills is his motivation," Ibiki emphasized. "So I looked into Sasuke's tally after he left—everyone he'd ever killed or wanted to kill."
"We've heard the tales. Sasuke sent his peers to the brink of death many times," said Homura.
Sasuke scoffed. He wouldn't be surprised if any time a Leaf-nin reported a run-in with Sasuke, rumors of his descent into madness painted a picture that he could not be redeemed from. His name was probably only uttered in whispers for fear that it would bring misfortune and death, almost as if he had become as taboo as the Uchiha massacre itself.
He would always be an outcast.
"The villagers too," Koharu added. "Parents hear his name amongst the children's gossip like he's an urban legend."
"Yes, but has he really committed any irreversible crimes against Konoha? At his core, he's only truly ever wanted to kill two people. One is dead and the other is Itachi," Ibiki said. "Both were—are—enemies of Konoha."
"Ibiki, it doesn't change what happened—"
Homura held up his hand to appease Koharu, who was now getting heated. "Let him finish. Ibiki, please continue."
"Sasuke believes he can help Konoha neutralize Akatsuki if Konoha helps him find Itachi."
Tsunade stepped in. "With Sasuke's help, Naruto and the kyuubi cannot be used as threats against Konoha. Everyone wins."
Koharu and Homura looked at each other, both incredulous to the idea of trusting Sasuke to hold up his end of the deal.
"Sasuke always fought to be alone. Even if what you say is true, he is still the same man who abandoned his comrades. He would do it again. That's why we can't trust him," the elder man said.
"That may be how it looks, but I've seen his mind. He has come a long way since embarking on the path of revenge. It seems he has taken some lessons to heart," said Ibiki, shaking his head. "I simply found no evidence to suggest that Sasuke poses a threat. As far as I'm concerned, the biggest damage has been done to the hearts of his teammates. I would leave it up to them to decide if they want him back. That is my recommendation."
With that, the interrogation specialist bowed his head in respect to the council and turned around to leave. He made eye contact with Kakashi, who nodded quickly and moved aside to let him pass.
"Tsunade," said Homura. "You are well aware that you can make any decision without us. If you and Ibiki are so convinced, I will not say anymore."
Koharu looked to Homura in disbelief.
He continued, looking Tsunade dead in the eye. "But I will caution you on one thing. Koharu and I are old. When we are gone, we will not suffer from your poor choices. The children of Konoha will. Think about what world you are leaving to them when you make your decisions."
"The children of Konoha have Naruto, and that's more than anyone could hope for," Tsunade said.
"I have one more thing to add," said Koharu. "Do not be made a fool by this boy. It is in your best interest to ensure he fulfills his promises sooner rather than later. That includes the restoration of the Uchiha clan."
Sasuke smirked. He knew they couldn't resist his offer.
"We will be monitoring Sasuke closely. Thank you for your input," Tsunade replied semi-sarcastically.
Sasuke waited as she passed by him.
"You two. My office. Ten minutes. I'll send someone to get Naruto and Sai."
"Kakashi, you can remove the chakra chains."
Sasuke remained composed as Kakashi deactivated his bounds and allowed him to stand a free man.
Funnily enough, Sasuke wanted to lie down. Not stand. He'd been standing for hours and his legs threatened to give out underneath him at any point.
The window behind Tsunade's desk opened and a masked ANBU silently entered the room. He bowed on one knee.
"Where is Naruto?"
"On his way, Hokage-sama."
Based on the chakra signature, Sasuke knew the ANBU was his Team 7 replacement. They'd met already. The mask was pointless.
Just then, the opposite window opened, and Naruto mirrored Sai's placement in the room without the formalities. His eyes were bright and alert, and he looked antsy like he had been anticipating the results of Sasuke's interrogation ever since it began.
Now that everyone was in the room, Tsunade began to speak.
"You can see that Sasuke has been allowed to return."
Naruto sighed in relief.
"BUT!" Tsunade held one finger up. "Let me finish."
Naruto straightened up and waited patiently.
"Sasuke," she said as she addressed him for the first time that day. "Your return is very different from your acceptance. The villagers don't like you. Most of your peers will shun you. And your elders don't trust you. Outside these walls, you'll find that Konoha and its people are now unfamiliar to you. There's nothing I can do about that."
Sasuke nodded.
"Sai was appointed to report your activities in the village. I'm telling you as a courtesy. You may not see him, but know that he'll always be watching," she said. "You can take off your mask by the way," she said to the ANBU.
When Sasuke made eye contact with Sai, he received an empty smile. The guy had an odd appearance, he remembered, with very pale, almost translucent skin.
"We've arranged for you to take the empty apartment in Naruto's complex. You don't get the Uchiha compound yet. Naruto is also tasked to monitor your activities, although less covertly, obviously."
Naruto's eyes beamed and he sent a look like he was proud to share his building with his friend.
Everything was moving quicker than expected.
The woman clearly worked busily in the background while he was in interrogations.
"To give you the bandwidth needed to prove your loyalty and value to the village, I've fought for you to have extreme laxity. You can't kill Konoha's enemies from the confines of your apartment," Tsunade said. "But this means you get one chance. One wrong move, and you're out."
Kakashi stepped in. "I advocated for Team 7 to train right away, which gives you some freedom to move about. Your fitness in a team environment must be evaluated quickly," he said.
Suddenly, it occurred to Sasuke how little he knew about his former sensei's feelings about him. He decided he'd figure that out later.
"Konoha tracks a number of enemies. You'll be informed as appropriate. You are not to leave the village without prior authorization," Tsunade said firmly. "When the time comes, Kakashi will be your team leader. He will report the team dynamics and be the one to make the decision if you're fit to be on Team 7 again."
"Baa-chan, can we tell Sakura yet?" Naruto asked.
Tsunade looked over to him and nodded, not reprimanding him for the interruption.
"Yes, but here's the thing." Tsunade's eyes focused on Sasuke's injured arm. "You're pretty much unable to do any ninjutsu until you get that fixed. Shizune and I could help, but I wouldn't do that to Sakura. If she wants you healed, she'll do it herself."
"Sasuke will have to beg her for forgiveness," Naruto said with a devilish grin.
"Kakashi, they're yours. Dismissed." Tsunade waved her hand to tell everyone to get out of her office, as if she's had way too much of Team 7 lately.
"I just have one more thing to say," Naruto said.
An orange flash flickered before his eyes, and Sasuke felt something smash into his cheekbone. He was thrown backwards on the floor, cursing his exhaustion-induced slow reflexes.
"Naruto! What do you think you're doing?!" Tsunade shot out of her chair and slammed her palms to her desk.
"I wouldn't worry too much," said Kakashi casually, grabbing the Icha-Icha book from his side pocket. "Some things never change…" he said as he thumbed through the pages of his last read.
Sasuke rubbed his cheek, glaring at Naruto. "That fucking hurt, dobe."
"Now we're even." Naruto approached where Sasuke was sitting and extended a hand. "Let's go find Sakura."
To be continued...